Coceres leads by six with one round to

play in Austrian Senior Open

Day Two report

José Coceres will go for his second win on the Staysure Tour this season as he takes a six-shot lead into the final round of the Murhof Legends – Austrian Senior Open.

The Argentinian fired a sensational round of ten under par 62 on moving day in Austria as he went bogey-free around Golfclub Murhof.

“That was one of the best rounds of my life,” Coceres said. “I played very good in the pro-am, and I played very good yesterday, even though I three putted two greens, but today was special, it was nearly perfect.”

The 56-year-old collected his first-career Staysure Tour win back in July when he triumphed at the Swiss Seniors Open, which came on the back of a strong start to the season highlighted by a tied-fourth place finish at the Jordan Mixed Open presented by Ayla—where he was the low-Staysure Tour player— and a third place finish in the Senior Italian Open.

Despite the growing list of accomplishments, Coceres is still hard at work and was quick to credit the efforts of his coach Chino Fernandez, when asked what the key to today’s performance was.

“I practised hard on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, I talked a lot with my coach on the phone, and we checked my swing and it really helped me play well,” he said.

Currently occupying the fifth position on the Staysure Tour Order of Merit, a win tomorrow could move Coceres near the top of the rankings, but the two-time European Tour winner knows full-well that his sizeable lead will still require a strong final round if he is to be crowned the inaugural champion of the Murhof Legends – Austrian Senior Open.

“At this moment I’m very happy about my round today, especially since I was able to have my son caddying for me—it doesn’t always happen like that,” he said.

“As for tomorrow, I’m just going to try to play my tee shot, hit the green with my second shot and do that for all 18 holes.”

Leading the charge to catch Coceres are a trio of players including his fellow countryman Rafael Gomez, and a pair of former Ryder Cup winners, Thomas Levet of France and Welshman Phillip Price.

First round leader Stephen Dodd sits a shot further back on nine under par, while four players, including Major Champion Paul Lawrie, Spain’s Miguel Angel Martin, Jarmo Sandelin of Sweden and this week’s Castle Shot Challenge winner, South African James Kingston are on eight under par.

The final round of the Murhof Legends – Austrian Senior Open is set to begin tomorrow at 8:00 am local time, with the final group of Coceres, Price and Levet teeing off at 11:09 am.

Scores after round 2:

128 J Coceres (Arg) 66 62,
134 R Gomez (Arg) 66 68, T Levet (Fra) 66 68, P Price (Wal) 67 67,
135 S Dodd (Wal) 64 71,
136 J Kingston (RSA) 69 67, P Lawrie (Sco) 70 66, J Sandelin (Swe) 66 70, M Martin (Esp) 68 68,
137 B Lane (Eng) 67 70, P Golding (Eng) 67 70,
138 D Shacklady (Eng) 68 70, D Gilford (Eng) 68 70, S Luna (Esp) 70 68,
139 M Atlevi (Swe) 71 68, G Evans (Eng) 65 74, M Molina (Arg) 67 72,
140 P Fowler (Aus) 69 71, C Dennis (USA) 71 69, A Oldcorn (Sco) 71 69, J Remesy (Fra) 67 73,
141 P Wesselingh (Eng) 68 73, A Bossert (Sui) 71 70, M Farry (Fra) 70 71, J Carriles (Esp) 66 75,
142 M Brier (Aut) 71 71, J Quiros (Esp) 70 72, G Wolstenholme (Eng) 71 71, J Haeggman (Swe) 72 70,
143 J Lomas (Eng) 71 72, M Mouland (Wal) 71 72, R Chapman (Eng) 65 78, N Job (Eng) 72 71, S Tinning (Den) 71 72, A Sherborne (Eng) 72 71,
144 G Manson (Aut) 70 74, S Richardson (Eng) 72 72, P Streeter (Eng) 70 74,
145 P Wilson (Eng) 73 72, D Olsen (USA) 73 72, C Suneson (Esp) 71 74, C Williams (RSA) 70 75, T Thelen (USA) 70 75, M Davis (Eng) 69 76,
146 P Eales (Eng) 71 75, S Little (Eng) 72 74,
147 M Mackenzie (Eng) 73 74,
148 S Brown (Eng) 77 71, B Longmuir (Sco) 72 76, M Wharton (Eng) 74 74,
149 G Emerson (Eng) 72 77, P Walton (Irl) 73 76,
150 C Grenier (Aut) 74 76,
152 C Bauer (am) (Aut) 72 80,
157 C Rocca (Ita) 78 79,
163 R Austin (Eng) 80 83,
** G Orr (Sco) RT 0,