UNFLAPPABLE ERNIE ELS LEADS BY ONE AT HALFWAY IN GERMANY

ERNIE ELS IN ACTION TODAY .. Picture by courtesy of Getty Images(c)
 
REPORT FROM EUROPEAN TOUR COMMUNICATIONS

Ernie Els recovered from a double bogey in the middle of his round to retain a one-stroke advantage at the halfway stage of the BMW International Open.

The 27-time European Tour winner from South Africa finished Day 2 at 12 under par 132, having carded a second-round 69 at Golfclub München Eichenried, and he will start the third round one clear of England’s Matthew Baldwin and Frenchman Alexander Levy, who both shot rounds in the 60s.

Els, the reigning Open champion, had made a steady start to his round in tougher scoring conditions, and picked up an opening birdie at the sixth hole, before two dropped shots at the par four seventh had looked like derailing his round.

However, the experienced South African remained unflustered and bounced back with further birdies at the ninth, 11th, 13th, and 15th to re-establish the lead he had held overnight.

A dropped shot at the driveable 16th saw him momentarily drop back into a tie for the lead, but a splendid drive and fairway wood into the heart of the par five 18th green yielded a two-putt birdie and ensured Els would hold the narrowest of leads after 36 holes.

“I’m quite fortunate to be where I am,” admitted Els. “I didn't play as well today as I did yesterday, obviously.  I fought hard for a score today and I’m satisfied with that.

“The course is getting a little bit firmer now and they tucked a couple of flags away.  You are not going to see the scoring we had yesterday, but I still felt I needed to get something under 70, which I luckily did.

“It's hard to take a double bogey on this golf course; there are so many birdies to be made.  But you really go backwards if you make a big number like that, and hopefully I won't do that again, but play a little bit more sensibly.

“I'm not sure what's needed, it depends on the weather, but something low still.  I think the course will get firmer and faster but I still feel that I've got to shoot something in the 60s to have a chance [of winning].”

In just his second season on The European Tour, one of the men in a tie for second, Baldwin, has never finished higher than a tie for fifth, but the Englishman is handily placed to improve upon that after a second round of 69 thanks to four birdies and a solitary bogey on another warm day in Munich.

He said: “On the front nine the putts didn't quite drop, but on the back nine they all seemed to drop at once, it was a good day again, and put me right in the tournament for the weekend. With two more days left hopefully the putts can continue to drop and we'll see what happens.

“I'm still relatively inexperienced compared to a lot of the guys out here, but I feel like I'm ready to win.  I feel like I'm good enough to win, so why not.”

Baldwin is alongside Levy, who is also in slightly uncharted territory in just his 14th European Tour start, but the 22 year old Frenchman showed experience beyond his years in the second round to go one better than the Englishman by carding a round of 68 thanks to seven birdies and just the three dropped shots.

“I'm very happy to play this well today,” said Levy.  “I missed a few shots off the tee but I had a good time on the course and I played very, very well today, so I'm very happy.

“The weather is perfect and I hope it will be nice during the weekend. I've just got to play my golf and have a good time, and we'll see what happens.”

A shot further adrift of the pair in tied fourth place are defending champion Danny Willett, who fired one of the rounds of the day, a seven under par 65, to move right up the board; and Austrian Bernd Wiesberger, who had a 68 of his own to tie the Englishman at ten under par.

Meanwhile, the German crowds were also given plenty to cheer about thanks to the play of Martin Kaymer and Marcel Siem, who had slightly differing fortunes, but both will start the third round at nine under par.

Kaymer, out in the morning, was unable to replicate the fireworks of his opening round en route to a steady 71 that keeps him in contention, whereas Siem was able to counter a few bogeys with enough birdies to pull himself into contention on nine under par.

He said: “I feel more satisfied than yesterday, because it was a lot tougher to play today, and I think 68 was an okay round. You had to finally think your way around, and the course showed its teeth, and that's what it deserves in my opinion.  It was a lot crispier and a lot more fun to shape it to the flags.  I liked that a lot better.

“The gap between Ernie and me, it shrank by one; instead of four, it's only three now.  The people were super cool today too, so thank you for that, and yeah, I can't wait to get out tomorrow.”

Also in contention, and alongside the aforementioned German pair, are Tommy Fleetwood, Miguel Ángel Jiménez and Alex Noren, who all fared well once more on day two.

The loudest cheer of the day came on the 18th, when Max Kieffer rolled in a ten footer for birdie to make the cut on the number at three under par.

SECOND-ROUND SCOREBOARD
Par 144 (2x72) 
132 E Els (RSA) 63 69

133 A Levy (Fra) 65 68, M Baldwin (Eng) 64 69

134 D Willett  (Eng) 69 65, B Wiesberger  (Aut) 66 68

135 A Noren  (Swe) 64 71, M Kaymer (Ger) 64 71, T Fleetwood  (Eng) 66 69, M Jiménez (Esp) 68 67, M Siem  (Ger) 67 68

136 G Stal  (Fra) 68 68, D Fichardt (RSA) 70 66, J Campillo (Esp) 66 70, R Derksen (Ned) 64 72, P Uihlein  (USA) 70 66, P Lawrie (Irl) 67 69, M Nixon (Eng) 65 71

137 M Manassero (Ita) 68 69, S Kapur (Ind) 69 68, B Stone (RSA) 66 71, R Cabrera-Bello (Esp) 67 70, H Stenson (Swe) 68 69, D Johnson (USA) 66 71, R Fisher (Eng) 68 69, T Björn (Den) 68 69, J Luiten (Ned) 69 68, V Dubuisson  (Fra) 68 69, C Macaulay  (Sco) 69 68, M Tullo (Chi) 68 69

138 D Higgins (Irl) 67 71, S Benson (Eng) 71 67, B Rumford (Aus) 70 68, B Ritthammer (Ger) 68 70, M Wiegele  (Aut) 69 69, T Van Der Walt (RSA) 70 68, P Fowler (Aus) 67 71, S Lowry  (Irl) 69 69, S Jamieson  (Sco) 68 70, O Floren  (Swe) 68 70, O Fisher  (Eng) 69 69, J Morrison  (Eng) 68 70

139 J Parry (Eng) 67 72, F Aguilar (Chi) 70 69, R Wattel  (Fra) 67 72, P Waring  (Eng) 66 73, M Madsen  (Den) 74 65, J Lagergren (Swe) 66 73

140 M Warren (Sco) 72 68, J Van Zyl (RSA) 75 65, D Drysdale (Sco) 68 72, M Carlsson  (Swe) 69 71, S Garcia  (Esp) 71 69, L Gagli  (Ita) 69 71, J Walters (RSA) 67 73, R McEvoy  (Eng) 68 72, A Kaleka  (Fra) 72 68, R Jacquelin (Fra) 73 67, E Goya (Arg) 66 74, T Jaidee (Tha) 66 74, M Korhonen (Fin) 71 69, H Wen-Yi (Chn) 71 69

141 D Van Der Walt (RSA) 70 71, P Widegren  (Swe) 71 70, A Snobeck  (Fra) 70 71, M Kieffer (Ger) 68 73, P Casey  (Eng) 71 70, G Bourdy (Fra) 68 73, R Rock (Eng) 73 68, G Orr (Sco) 73 68, A Hartø  (Den) 68 73, C Paisley  (Eng) 69 72, M Crespi  (Ita) 69 72, K Broberg (Swe) 70 71, C Doak (Sco) 72 69, M Lafeber (Ned) 70 71, D Horsey (Eng) 68 73, R Gonzalez (Arg) 72 69, S Kjeldsen (Den) 69 72 
MISSED THE CUT

142 R Bland (Eng) 71 71, G Havret  (Fra) 67 75, T Levet (Fra) 67 75, E Grillo (Arg) 71 71, S Hansen (Den) 74 68, L Jensen (Den) 70 72, C Günther (Ger) 68 74, G Maybin (Nir) 72 70, C Montgomerie  (Sco) 71 71, D Gaunt (Aus) 70 72, A Cejka (Ger) 71 71, T Aiken (RSA) 70 72, T Olesen (Den) 70 72

143 B Åkesson (Swe) 69 74, T Lewis (Eng) 65 78, M Southgate  (Eng) 72 71, A Tadini (Ita) 72 71, A Cañizares  (Esp) 71 72, J Kingston (RSA) 68 75, M Foster (Eng) 73 70, A Hansen (Den) 70 73, R Santos  (Por) 70 73, A Quiros  (Esp) 71 72

144 D Howell (Eng) 74 70, G Lockerbie  (Eng) 72 72, E De La Riva  (Esp) 70 74, A Sullivan (Eng) 66 78, S Wakefield (Eng) 74 70, P Price (Wal) 69 75, R Finch  (Eng) 72 72, P Erofejeff (Fin) 70 74, M Delpodio  (Ita) 68 76, P Larrazábal (Esp) 72 72

145 R Green (Aus) 71 74, I Garrido (Esp) 72 73, G Storm  (Eng) 74 71, H Otto (RSA) 71 74, F Zanotti (Par) 74 71, P Whiteford (Sco) 72 73, S Dyson  (Eng) 76 69, M Brier (Aut) 72 73

146 C Lee (Sco) 72 74, D Küpper (Ger) 72 74, J Hansen  (Den) 70 76, C Del Moral (Esp) 73 73, K Horne (RSA) 75 71, J Lara (Esp) 73 73

147 A Dodt (Aus) 74 73, J Singh (Ind) 73 74, M Lampert (Ger) 70 77, A Marshall (Eng) 78 69, M Lundberg (Swe) 70 77, S Little (Eng) 74 73, N Fasth (Swe) 69 78

148 S Henry  (Sco) 75 73, D Brooks (Eng) 74 74, J Olazábal (Esp) 75 73, J Edfors (Swe) 74 74, C Lloyd (Eng) 70 78

149 L Slattery (Eng) 72 77, M Röhrig (am) (Ger) 72 77

150 F Fritsch  (Ger) 75 75, J Elson  (Eng) 75 75, J Kruger (RSA) 75 75, J Sjöholm (Swe) 75 75

151 R Coles (Eng) 75 76, M Jonzon (Swe) 73 78, C Cévaër (Fra) 75 76, S Arnold  (Aus) 74 77

152 D Lynn (Eng) 73 79, G Boyd  (Eng) 77 75, E Kofstad (Nor) 76 76, D Foos (am) (Ger) 78 74

153 R Davies (Wal) 79 74

156 S Heisele (Ger) 74 82

157 N Meitinger  (Ger) 80 77

169 C Schwierz  (Ger) 85 84

 ** J Quesne  (Fra) 74 WD