Andrea Pavan soared into a three-shot lead at the Dubai Festival City Challenge Tour Grand Final hosted by Al Badia Golf Club, thanks a six-under-par second round of 66, leaving him right on course to become the first multiple winner of the prestigious event.
The
Italian entered the week as the man to catch in the race to be
crowned
European Challenge Tour Number One and, having shared
the first round
lead overnight at the splendid Al Badia Golf
Club by
InterContinental, his relentless charge to a season-ending
double
only gathered pace on day two.
Pavan
started as he meant to continue, with a birdie at the first, but
after
reaching the turn in one under, it was the back nine where his
round
caught fire in the scorching Dubai heat.
A birdie at the tenth kicked things off before he picked up another shot at the par five 13th and just as the likes of Shiv Kapur, Tyrrell
Hatton and José-Filipe Lima began to close
the gap on the 24 year
old, he slammed it shut to finish with three consecutive birdies and
move three clear on 12 under par.
Nobody
has ever won the Challenge Tour’s finale twice and,
having claimed the
title on his home course in Italy in 2011,
Pavan is relishing the
opportunity to create history and better
his second place finish in the Rankings two years ago.
“It
would be fantastic to finish off the season in style,” he said. “But
I
have two rounds to go. I know what I need to do but I can’t
control what
the other guys do, and if someone goes low
on the
weekend then hats off to them. I just have to play my best, be
right
there towards the end, and finish it off.
“There
is still a lot of golf to play, and even if someone else wins
and I
finish second I’ll still be the Number One so I’m in a great
spot and I
can’t complain.
“If I
keep playing like this it is just a matter of being patient and
waiting
for the birdies to come because you get a lot of
opportunities. But you
need to play smart out here because if you
get too aggressive and miss a few shots, you get punished.”
Kapur,
meanwhile, is in need of a strong finish this week if he is to
claim
one of the 15 European Tour cards on offer at the end of the
finale and
he is right on course for a return to The
Race to Dubai
next season after a six under 66 moved him to outright
second on
nine under par.
“I
knew going into China and this week that I needed a good
finish,” said
the Indian, who won the 2013 Challenge Tour
season opener in his home
country. “The focus was on trying to
win and if
you try to win or contend that will take care of
anything else.
“I
don’t think the goals will change for the weekend, I want to put
myself
in a position where I can have a chance to win and that’s all I
want to
do and we’ll look at the money list at the
end of that.”
Englishman
Hatton and Lima of Portugal were one shot further
back on eight under
par, having both enjoyed strong finishes to their
rounds to mount a
title push.
Hatton
finished with three birdies to card a five under par 67 while
Lima
posted an eagle at the par five last hole to sign for a six under
66.
SECOND-ROUND TOTALS
Par 144 (2x72)
132 A Pavan (Ita) 66 66,
135 S Kapur (Ind) 69 66,
136 T Hatton (Eng) 69 67, J Lima (Por) 70 66,
138 N Elvira (Esp) 70 68, J Guerrier (Fra) 69 69,
O Wilson (Eng) 71 67, S Tiley (Eng) 73 65, W Besseling (Ned) 70 68, R
Davies (Wal) 69 69, J McLeary (Sco) 68 70, J Carlsson (Swe) 68 70,
139 A McArthur (Sco) 70 69,
140 E Dubois (Fra) 68 72, T Nørret (Den) 71 69, D Stewart (Sco) 72 68, S Manley (Wal) 73 67,
141 T Sluiter (Ned) 70 71, J Garcia Pinto (Esp) 71 70,
142 S Kim (SKor) 73 69, A Gee (Eng) 73 69,
143 J Elson (Eng) 72 71, N Lemke (Swe) 70 73, B Ritthammer (Ger) 74 69, J Dantorp (Swe) 70 73, B Paolini (USA) 66 77,
144 R Kakko (Fin) 73 71, D Gaunt (Aus) 72 72, J Fahrbring (Swe) 73 71, V Riu (Fra) 72 72,
145 S Walker (Eng) 77 68, J Huldahl (Den) 73 72, B An (Kor) 74 71
146 L Kennedy (Eng) 68 78, P Archer (Eng) 74 72, M Crespi (Ita) 73 73
147 A Otaegui (Esp) 69 78
148 D Frittelli (RSA) 72 76, R Dinwiddie (Eng) 76 72,
149 D Huizing (Ned) 76 73,
150 L Bjerregaard (Den) 73 77, D Im (USA) 74 76, F Calmels (Fra) 72 78
151 A Domingo (Esp) 77 74
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