Jack McDonald sharing second place, Sam Locke makes cut

 

                               This image of Max Orrin is displayed by courtesy of Göran Söderqvist

Orrin leads Swedish Challenge by three strokes

England’s Max Orrin will take a three-shot lead into the

weekend at the Swedish Challenge hosted by Robert

Karlsson after posting a five under par 67 for a ten under

total on Day Two at Katrineholms Golfklubb.

Orrin, who also signed for a five under 67 on Thursday, has a

three-shot cushion from Oliver Bekker, Eirik Tage Johansen,

Scot Jack McDonald and Liam Robinson, who all share

second place on seven under par.

The Englishman was playing in the penultimate group of the

day in sunny Katrineholm and despite carding two bogeys,

Orrin overcame a three-shot overnight deficit, courtesy of an

eagle and five birdies.

The 2013 Walker Cup player was overjoyed with his second

successive 67 in what he describes as ‘tricky’ conditions with

the wind swirling through the trees in the Swedish

countryside.

“It’s been tricky this afternoon," he said. "There’s a lot of

wind about and shots that are difficult around the turn. The

wind swirls a lot in the trees and makes a lot of the shots

tricky so I’m very happy.

“I’ve been very steady. I found something on the range on

Wednesday, just a little trigger that’s made it better for me to

get through the ball.

“I’ve had some weeks where I’ve tried to steer it too much

and been a bit protective but when you’re swinging free and

getting through the shots, it’s a lot easier.

“I’ve holed my fair share of putts, a lot of putts, so that’s

probably the most pleasing bit, the putting.”

The 24 year old’s opening two rounds are even more

impressive considering he was forced to abandon his

practice round on Tuesday due to a health scare which

resulted in the two-time European Challenge Tour winner

spending several hours in hospital.

“I had some lunch on Tuesday and played four or five holes,

felt fine, and then on the sixth tee, I just felt a pain go down

my neck and into my chest," he said.

“It was a bit worrying so I said to the boys that I was going to

get it checked out and I ended up in hospital for a few hours.

“Luckily, it wasn’t anything serious and everything was all

clear but for a few hours, it was pretty horrible.

“I think it made me relax a little bit more by thinking there are

more important things than golf shots and missing putts. I

was quite pleased to just be playing and enjoying it.”

He’s enjoyed previous success in Scandinavia, winning the

2015 Made in Denmark Challenge, and although he’s been

out of the winners’ circle for three years he believes his game

is trending in the right direction.

“If I go out and make birdies then it’s difficult for the chasing

pack," he said. "I think you just have to stay aggressive and

stick to what you’re doing out there.

“It’s been a while since I’ve been in the lead but I feel like I’ve

been playing well and trending the right way up the

leaderboards.

“I’ve not been getting that much out of weeks but any

experience is good experience and hopefully I can just go

out, try and make some birdies and pull away from the pack

again.”

Bekker and Robinson were two of only three players to post

blemish-free rounds on Day Two and the duo, along with

Johansen and McDonald in second place, are followed by a

group of 12 players on six under in tied sixth, with 11 a shot

further back on five under.

France's Jérôme Lando-Casanova carded the first hole-in-

one of the week at the par three seventh, using a four iron to

find the hole from 201 yards as the sun began to set in

Sweden.

Stonehaven's Sam Locke, who plays out of the Paul Lawrie Golf Centre, made the cut on his debut as a

professional, shooting 72-68 for 140, the same 36-hole

tally as David Law and Scott Henry.

Players with two-round totals of 142 and better qualified for

the weekend action

Scores after Round Two:
par 144 (2x72)

134 M Orrin (Eng) 67 67,
137 J McDonald (Sco) 68 69, O Bekker (SAf) 70 67, L Robinson (Eng) 70 67, E Johansen (Norway) 67 70
138 R Roussel (Fra) 67 71, O Wilson (Eng) 68 70, K Johannessen (Norway) 68 70, T Murray (Eng) 70 68, M Ford (Eng) 69 69, J Hansen (Denmark) 69 69, H Joannes (Belgium) 67 71, W Besseling (Netherlands) 68 70, U Coussaud (Fra) 66 72, T Lewis (Eng) 67 71, A Karlsson (Swe) 70 68, S Forsström (Swe) 66 72
139 J Stalter (Fra) 69 70, A Tadini (Ita) 69 70, A Arnaus (Spn) 64 75, J Lima (Portugal) 70 69, T Linard (Fra) 69 70, M Lindberg (Swe) 70 69, B Virto (Spn) 68 71, M Ovesen (Denmark) 69 70, K Samooja (Finland) 71 68, V Perez (Fra) 68 71, B Hellgren (Swe) 70 69 
140 S Locke (Sco) 72 68, S Crocker (USA) 72 68, D Law (Sco) 69 71, D Perrier (Fra) 67 73, P Figueiredo (Portugal) 68 72, S Henry (Sco) 71 69, C Feldborg Nielsen (Swe) 71 69, J Singh Brar (Eng) 70 70, E Goya (Argentina) 70 70,
141 M Iten (Switz) 69 72, M Galiano Aguilar (Spn) 71 70, S Tiley (Eng) 73 68, S Manley (Wales) 71 70, F Bergamaschi (Ita) 70 71, J Arnoy (Norway) 69 72, A Meronk (Poland) 69 72, M Salminen (Finland) 70 71, H Ellis (Eng) 72 69, E Ferguson (Sco) 69 72, R Enoch (Wales) 68 73, R Langasque (Fra) 71 70, M Lundberg (Swe) 66 75, M Lampert (Ger) 73 68, R MacIntyre (Sco) 72 69, K Koivu (Finland) 71 70
142 J Hansson (Swe) 72 70, A Ahokas (Finland) 71 71, B Moore (Eng) 71 71, J Girrbach (Switz) 71 71, M Armitage (Eng) 75 67, A Knappe (Ger) 72 70, S Soderberg (Swe) 73 69, L Nemecz (Austria) 68 74, J Thomson (Eng) 75 67

MISSED THE CUT

 143 B Hafthorsson (Iceland) 74 69, F Laporta (Ita) 74 69, M Schneider (Ger) 69 74, N Lemke (Swe) 70 73, F Fritsch (Ger) 68 75, M Fenasse (Fra) 72 71, V Riu (Fra) 73 70, G Moynihan (Ire) 70 73, Å Nilsson (Swe) 70 73, N Kimsey (Eng) 68 75, C Mivis (Belgium) 71 72, J Sarasti (Spn) 69 74, J Carlsson (Swe) 73 70, N Von Dellingshausen (Ger) 71 72, R Saxton (Netherlands) 73 70, G Migliozzi (Ita) 70 73, C Hill (Sco) 71 72, O Lindell (Finland) 72 71 
144 S Hansson (Swe) 72 72, M Haastrup (Denmark) 72 72, B Evans (Eng) 71 73, J Lando Casanova (Fra) 75 69, L Van Meijel (Netherlands) 70 74, L Johnston (Sco) 68 76, T Cruz (Portugal) 70 74, A Plant (Eng) 71 73, M Kim (SKor) 69 75, A Chapman (Eng) 70 74, K Ventura (Norway) 72 72, E Cuartero Blanco (Spn) 69 75, O Gillberg (Swe) (am) 72 72,
145 B Ritthammer (Ger) 71 74, F Zucchetti (Ita) 73 72, P Maddy (Eng) 69 76, R Davies (Wales) 76 69, A Bernadet (Fra) 71 74, N O'Briain (Ire) 73 72, A Boasson (Iceland) 73 72, V Theandersson (Swe) 73 72, M Keskari (Ger) 74 71, A Wennstam (Swe) 70 75, J Sainz (Spn) 75 70, M Trappel (Austria) 73 72, A Blomme (am) (am) 76 69 
146 R Petersson (Swe) 74 72, B Parker (Eng) 73 73, R Karlsson (Swe) 75 71, H Sturehed (Swe) 73 73, M Carlsson (Swe) 71 75, A Rozner (Fra) 68 78
147 O Stark (Swe) 79 68, F Gustavsson (Swe) 72 75, R Van West (Netherlands) 74 73, M Schmitt (Ger) 73 74, C Sharvin (NIre) 73 74, M Granstad (Swe) 72 75, F Mruzek (Czech) 71 76, N Johansson (Swe) 73 74, M Svensson (Swe) (am) 76 71,
148 D Van Driel (Netherlands) 73 75, J Senior (Eng) 73 75, J Vecchi Fossa (Ita) 77 71, P Gal (Czech) 70 78, O Floren (Swe) 76 72, G Porteous (Eng) 74 74, J Huldahl (Denmark) 73 75, R Gonzalez (Arg)entina 72 76, J Adams (Eng) 73 75, D Stewart (Sco) 72 76, C Doak (Sco) 72 76, T Widing (Swe) (am) 76 72
149 B Stow (Eng) 74 75, R Santos (Por) 70 79, D Nyfjäll (am) (Swe) 73 76,
150 O Lengden (Swe) 75 75, C Koerbler (Austria) 76 74, V Østerby (Denmark) 76 74, M Madsen (Denmark) 72 78, J Svensson  (Swe) (am) 73 77
151 Ó Serna (Mexico) 74 77, H Rönneblad (Swe) 73 78
152 R Hjelm (Denmark) 75 77, P Stjarnfeldt (Swe) 74 78, J Van Der Vaart (Netherlands) 74 78, M Wiegele (Austria) 76 76,
153 J Rask (Swe) 77 76, A Altuntas (Turkey) 77 76 
154 Z Felder (Switz) 77 77, J Sjöholm (Swe) 76 78
155 S Towndrow (Eng) 81 74, A Ameil-Planchin (Switz) 76 79
158 N Marsh (Eng) 83 75, D Senay (Turkey) 77 81 
** T Gornik (Slo) 92 withdrew