WALES OPEN REPORT AND SCORES

LOWRY LEADS AT NINE UNDER PAR AS 

GALLACHER MISSES CUT

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Irishman Shane Lowry will carry a slender lead into the weekend of the ISPS HANDA Wales Open after shooting a superb round of 65 at The Celtic Manor Resort today.
Lowry’s best finish on four previous appearances in the £1.8 million tournament was a tie for 39th place in 2010, but the Irishman turned the form book on its head with five birdies in a flawless display which moved him to nine under par at the midway stage.
Lowry’s nearest pursuers are Nicolas Colsaerts, who closed his round of 68 with an eagle putt from 35 feet, and overnight leader Joost Luiten, who rebounded from a front nine of 37 to join the Belgian on eight under par. 
The lowest round of the tournament so far was carded by Italian Edoardo Molinari, whose bogey-free 63 moved him into a share of fourth place on seven under par.
Of the four Ryder Cup players in the field, it is home favourite Jamie Donaldson who is faring best on five under par, having added a round of 67 to his opening 70.
Stephen Gallacher will be returning to his native Scotland sooner than expected, after missing the cut despite a battling round of 70.
But his team-mates Thomas Björn and Lee Westwood both made the weekend on two under and level par respectively.
Key quotes
Shane Lowry
“I’ve never, ever done well here before. So to be leading after two rounds is very nice. There’s still a long way to go in the tournament, but I’m really looking forward to the weekend.
“I felt like coming here, I could give it a go this week. I was around tenth going into the back nine on Sunday in Holland last week, and similar the week before in Switzerland. So if I can get myself into a good position come the back nine this weekend, again, hopefully I can give it a go.”
Nicolas Colsaerts
“I started off very nicely, but then made two silly mistakes in the middle of the round, two bogeys that I could easily have avoided. Then I shaved the hole with a bunch of putts on the back nine, but it was a nice little gesture on the last.
“I was very, very close to losing it, because I thought I was playing quite well except for those two holes where I bogeyed. But apart from that, I’m quite pleased with the way I’m playing. I thought it looked pretty solid out there again today.”
Joost Luiten
“I’ve been playing well the last couple weeks. I finished fourth in Italy and so had some good form going into the KLM, then played well again last week.
“It was tough today because the greens were very soft compared to yesterday with all the rain we had last night, and with the back pins, even 7 irons spun back four or five yards, so it was tough to fly them all the way to the back.
“So you have to be careful with those pins – sometimes you have to play smart.”
 
SECOND ROUND TOTALS
Par 142 (2x71) 74 players made the cut on 143 and better
 133 S Lowry  (Irl) 68 65
 134 J Luiten (Ned) 65 69, N Colsaerts  (Bel) 66 68
 135 E Molinari  (Ita) 72 63, T Jaidee (Tha) 68 67
 136 T Fleetwood  (Eng) 68 68, G Havret  (Fra) 69 67, R Santos  (Por) 68 68, P Sjöland (Swe) 69 67
 137 J Donaldson (Wal) 70 67, P Price (Wal) 71 66, M Warren (Sco) 70 67
 138 M Foster (Eng) 69 69, B Wiesberger  (Aut) 71 67, R Rock (Eng) 67 71
 139 P Uihlein  (USA) 71 68, A Otaegui  (Esp) 70 69, L Bjerregaard  (Den) 71 68, R Ramsay  (Sco) 69 70, R Derksen (Ned) 73 66, D Willett  (Eng) 72 67
 140 J Hansen  (Den) 69 71, P Casey  (Eng) 70 70, T Björn (Den) 71 69, J Morrison  (Eng) 71 69, A Wall (Eng) 69 71, S Benson (Eng) 71 69, S Kim (SKor) 70 70, G Storm  (Eng) 71 69, A Sullivan (Eng) 74 66, J Hahn (USA) 70 70, S Thornton (Irl) 71 69, A McArthur  (Sco) 66 74, S Webster (Eng) 68 72, N Holman  (Aus) 70 70, S Kjeldsen (Den) 69 71, T Pieters  (Bel) 72 68, S Wakefield (Eng) 68 72, C Lee (Sco) 68 72,
 141 D Lynn (Eng) 72 69, B Dredge (Wal) 71 70, R Wattel  (Fra) 69 72, J McLeary  (Sco) 68 73, W Ormsby (Aus) 70 71, N Elvira  (Esp) 71 70, G Bhullar (Ind) 71 70, R Jacquelin (Fra) 76 65, K Broberg (Swe) 71 70, C Wood  (Eng) 73 68, T Olesen (Den) 71 70, E Grillo (Arg) 70 71, M Kieffer (Ger) 71 70, A Pavan (Ita) 72 69, O Fisher  (Eng) 69 72
 142 D Huizing (Ned) 73 69, L Westwood (Eng) 73 69, J Carlsson (Swe) 69 73, P Archer (Eng) 71 71, E Pepperell (Eng) 68 74, J Quesne  (Fra) 74 68, G Hutcheon (Sco) 72 70, R Fisher (Eng) 70 72, D Im (USA) 70 72, F Molinari (Ita) 71 71,
 143 N Fasth (Swe) 69 74, R Karlsson (Swe) 71 72, A Gee  (Eng) 72 71, R Gonzalez (Arg) 74 69, L Slattery (Eng) 73 70, E Dubois (Fra) 73 70, V Riu  (Fra) 72 71, D McGrane (Irl) 71 72, M Carlsson  (Swe) 76 67, P Lawrie (Sco) 72 71
 144 M Nixon (Eng) 72 72, N Dougherty  (Eng) 73 71, J Campillo (Esp) 74 70, R Kakko  (Fin) 73 71, R Cabrera-Bello (Esp) 71 73, J Kingston (RSA) 73 71, R Bland (Eng) 73 71, D Howell (Eng) 70 74,
 145 D Brooks (Eng) 68 77, S Hansen (Den) 72 73, M Baldwin (Eng) 70 75, A Saddier (Fra) 73 72, D Gaunt (Eng) 70 75, J Walters (RSA) 67 78, D Drysdale (Sco) 73 72, A Kaleka  (Fra) 72 73, G Bourdy (Fra) 74 71, M Hoey  (Nir) 74 71
 146 G Maybin (Nir) 77 69, P Larrazábal (Esp) 75 71, L Zhiqun (Sin) 72 74, R Finch  (Eng) 74 72, A Hartø  (Den) 73 73, B Paolini (USA) 75 71, J Parry (Eng) 73 73, E Goya (Arg) 71 75, H Miyase (Jpn) 72 74, D Boote (am) (Wal) 71 75, M Hearne (am) (Wal) 73 73
 147 J Doherty  (Sco) 74 73, T Nørret (Den) 70 77, J Heath  (Eng) 74 73, T Lewis (Eng) 73 74, E De La Riva  (Esp) 75 72, S Walker (Eng) 67 80, P Whiteford (Sco) 73 74, S Manley (Wal) 76 71, J Singh (Ind) 72 75, M Korhonen (Fin) 71 76, S Jamieson  (Sco) 71 76,
 148 S Gallacher (Sco) 78 70, J Lima  (Por) 75 73, M Grönberg (Swe) 70 78
 149 K Phelan (Irl) 73 76, F Calmels  (Fra) 74 75, L Bond (Wal) 74 75, S Khan (Eng) 71 78, B Rumford (Aus) 71 78, A Forsyth (Sco) 80 69, J Ferguson (Eng) 76 73
 150 T Hatton (Eng) 77 73, D Higgins (Irl) 78 72, P Waring  (Eng) 76 74
 151 P Lawrie (Irl) 73 78, E Griffith (am) (Wal) 78 73
 152 M Cort (Eng) 74 78, D Fichardt (RSA) 74 78, M Crespi  (Ita) 77 75, F Andersson Hed (Swe) 74 78
 153 C Del Moral (Esp) 76 77
 154 M Madsen  (Den) 78 76
 156 T Innes Ker (Sco) 81 75, J Jeong (SKor) 78 78
 157 M Lundberg (Swe) 75 82
 158 J Olazábal (Esp) 82 76
 163 L Rooke (Wal) 76 87
 ** A Quiros  (Esp) 74 RT, J Knutzon (USA) 79 DQ, H Otto (RSA) 74 WD, R Karlberg  (Swe) RT  0, C Doak (Sco) DQ  0,


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