DUNCAN STEWART STILL TOP SCOT IN CHALLENGE TOUR EVENT IN GERMANY

CHALLENGE TOUR REPORT FROM
EUROPEAN TOUR COMMUNICATIONS

Victor Riu maintained a two-stroke advantage at the Bad Griesbach Challenge Tour by Hartl Resort, Germany after a second round 69 saw him finish on 12 under par.

The Frenchman leads from Norway’s Eirik Tage Johansen who shot one of the rounds of the day, a six under par 66, which had seen him lead at the end of the morning’s play, while Dutchman Daan Huizing is on the same mark at ten under par after a 68.

Riu started on the tenth with three birdies in his first four holes, and despite that fast start, which saw him regain his overnight lead, he was not able to push on like yesterday.

Pars followed as he made the turn, before his only bogey of the day at the par five third saw him drop back towards the chasing pack. The 28 year old bounced back in fine style though three holes later, making his final birdie of the round at the sixth to ensure he finished the day as he started – two shots clear.

“My game was solid like yesterday, although I didn’t hole the putts like I did in the first round,” admitted Riu. “I’m feeling good with my game though, hitting the ball solid, and I will just try to keep this going on the weekend.

“This is the first time I am leading a tournament on the Challenge Tour, and I’m excited to be in this position, and it will be great to play well this weekend. I will certainly try my best.”

Norway’s Johansen carded a second round 66 to post ten under par in Bad Griesbach, having got his round off to the perfect start on Friday morning with three birdies in a row from the tenth, before picking up a further shot at the 16^th hole en route to a front nine of 32 strokes.

Johansen didn’t stop there as he turned for home, rattling off another trio of red figures from the first to leapfrog Riu momentarily at the top of affairs, before a bogey at the par three fourth saw him finish at ten under par.

On the same mark is Huizing, who carded a second round 68 in the last group of the day to grab a share of second alongside the Norwegian.

The Dutchman only turned professional last October, and came to Germany fresh off a tie for second at the Karnten Golf Open presented by Mazda last week in Austria.

Also up there are Italy’s Andrea Pavan, who continued a rich run of form this season with a second round 67 to finish the day in a tie for fourth, and he’s alongside France’s Jermome Lando Casanova and Sweden’s David Palm, three strokes back at nine under par.

Duncan Stewart (68 for 137) and Raymond Russell (69 for 142) were the only Scots to beat the cut.

HALWAY TOTALS

Par 144 (2x72)

132 V Riu  (Fra) 63 69

134 D Huizing (Ned) 66 68, E Johansen  (Nor) 68 66

135 D Palm (Swe) 67 68, J Lando Casanova  (Fra) 66 69, A Pavan (Ita) 68 67

136 J Huldahl (Den) 68 68, M Trappel  (Aut) 69 67, E Dubois (Fra) 69 67, T Pilkadaris (Aus) 68 68

137 S Manley (Wal) 69 68, L Kennedy  (Eng) 70 67, N Quintarelli (Ita) 69 68, M Rominger  (Sui) 69 68, B An (Kor) 68 69, N Meitinger  (Ger) 65 72, R Kind (Ned) 66 71, L Weber (Fra) 68 69, P Relecom  (Bel) 65 72, D Stewart (Sco) 69 68

138 J Lerchedahl (Den) 72 66, B Ritthammer (Ger) 68 70, J Dantorp (Swe) 69 69, M Crespi  (Ita) 69 69, P O'Keeffe  (Irl) 72 66

139 F Bergamaschi (Ita) 71 68, R Harris  (Eng) 67 72, K Borsheim  (Nor) 67 72, C Hanson (Eng) 65 74, L Bjerregaard  (Den) 68 71, J Elson  (Eng) 71 68, N Kearney (Irl) 68 71, J Carlsson (Swe) 70 69, C Aguilar  (Esp) 69 70

140 J Garcia Pinto (Esp) 72 68, S Garcia Rodriguez (Esp) 70 70, S Heisele (Ger) 68 72, J Abbott (Eng) 67 73, A Gee  (Eng) 67 73, S Kannler (Ger) 67 73, F Praegant (Aut) 71 69

141 F McGuirk  (Eng) 75 66, J Legarrea (Esp) 75 66, A Johnston (Eng) 69 72, M Laskey  (Wal) 67 74, M Glauert (Ger) 70 71, R Steiner (Aut) 72 69, B Hemstock (Eng) 70 71, D Wuensche  (Ger) 67 74, K Ferrie (Eng) 67 74, A Bossert (Sui) 71 70, A Bernadet  (Fra) 72 69, R Kakko  (Fin) 70 71, P Edberg (Swe) 68 73, P Archer (Eng) 70 71, J Fahrbring (Swe) 71 70, W Besseling  (Ned) 72 69, S Kim (Kor) 72 69

142 N Henriques  (Por) 69 73, P Maddy (Eng) 71 71, S Hutsby  (Eng) 71 71, C Kim (USA) 71 71, M Brier (Aut) 71 71, L Goddard  (Eng) 70 72, O Farr (Wal) 70 72, B Hebert  (Fra) 71 71, R Russell (Sco) 73 69, J Barnes (Eng) 71 71, J Mommo  (Fin) 70 72, Å Nilsson (Swe) 70 72 
MISSED THE CUT

143 D Perrier (Fra) 70 73, O Whiteley (Eng) 74 69, C Ford (Eng) 71 72, L Tintera  (Cze) 72 71, S O'Hara  (Sco) 70 73, G Watremez (Bel) 68 75, G Murray  (Sco) 70 73, P Oriol (Esp) 70 73, J Guerrier  (Fra) 67 76, G Houston (Wal) 73 70, J Doherty  (Sco) 71 72, D Geminiani (Ita) 72 71,

 144 M Schneider (Ger) 72 72, J Gibb (Eng) 71 73, L Saltman (Sco) 75 69, T Murray (Eng) 71 73, F De Vries  (Ned) 68 76, D Im (USA) 75 69, M Haremza (Ger) 77 67, D Vancsik (Arg) 75 69,

145 A McArthur  (Sco) 76 69, J Glennemo (Swe) 70 75, N Floren (Swe) 73 72, D Kemmer (USA) 75 70, C Del Moral (Esp) 74 71, I Pyman (Eng) 73 72, C Mivis  (Bel) 68 77, T Nørret (Den) 72 73, G Snow  (Ken) 69 76, C Suneson (Esp) 73 72

146 J Moul  (Eng) 70 76, A Velasco (Esp) 74 72, N Lemke (Swe) 72 74, O Lieser (Cze) 76 70, N Ravano (Ita) 72 74, S Grant  (Irl) 70 76, R Kellett (Sco) 74 72

147 A Perrino  (Ita) 73 74, P Kaensche  (Nor) 73 74, D Griffiths  (Eng) 77 70, T Pulkkanen  (Fin) 72 75, K Nicol (Sco) 74 73, G Piris Mateu (Esp) 73 74, T Fournier  (Fra) 70 77, R Saxton (Ned) 74 73, B Parker  (Eng) 69 78

148 L Claverie (Esp) 69 79, N Dougherty  (Eng) 73 75, J Pastor Lopez (Esp) 73 75, R Mattila (Fin) 77 71, P Westermann (am) (Ger) 75 73

149 B Hafthorsson (Isl) 77 72, H Bacher (Aut) 74 75, M Haastrup  (Den) 71 78, S Matus  (Cze) 79 70, C Günther (Ger) 77 72, J Senior (Eng) 70 79, A Otaegui  (Esp) 75 74, P Erofejeff (Fin) 77 72, N Elvira  (Esp) 71 78, S Piaget  (Mon) 73 76

150 E Bertheussen (Nor) 77 73, F Svanberg  (Sui) 72 78, P Gal  (Cze) 77 73,

 151 J Howarth (Eng) 76 75, T Haylock  (Eng) 77 74, W Booth  (Sco) 71 80, A Rota (Ita) 73 78, M Kramer  (Ger) 77 74, F Colombo (Ita) 72 79, J Ruth  (Eng) 81 70,

 152 M Novy  (Cze) 76 76, J Timmis (Eng) 74 78, S Davis (Eng) 77 75

 153 T Sluiter  (Ned) 74 79, O Rozner  (Fra) 79 74

 154 B Chapellan (Fra) 76 78, Y Kafelnikov (Rus) 78 76, N Bertasio (Ita) 77 77

 155 M Nichols (Eng) 79 76, D Wright (Eng) 78 77

 156 M Lorenzo-Vera  (Fra) 83 73

 157 N Dahlgren (Fin) 75 82

 162 J Maurer  (Aut) 80 82

 171 D Suchan (am) (Cze) 86 85

 ** P Dwyer (Eng) 75 WD

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