Pablo Larrazabal hails level-par round as one of top three of his career

Spain's Pablo Larrazabal hailed one of the best rounds of his career after claiming the halfway lead in the Spanish Open at a testing Valderrama.

A level-par 71 was enough to give Larrazabal a two-shot lead over England's Andrew Johnston, as a combination of swirling winds and firm greens sent scores soaring at the notoriously difficult former Ryder Cup venue.

At three and one under respectively, Larrazabal and Johnston were the only players to finish in red figures, with Mike Lorenzo-Vera and Peter Hanson the only players to break par with rounds of 70 as the cut fell at nine over par.

“It was an awesome day, one of the top three of my golfing career,” Larrazabal told Sky Sports.

“To shoot level par today is like shooting seven or eight under on another golf course.

Swirling wind

“This course is so tight, you are in a valley all the time between trees and the wind was swirling around, and to trust a shot was tough. The targets are very, very small, so to put yourself in position to make birdies is difficult. In a perfect day if you have 60 per cent [chance]; today you have seven per cent.”

Larrazabal, who is looking to win his national Open for the first time, started his round on the back nine and birdied the 11th, 12th and 17th to move into the outright lead on six under par.

The 32-year-old then briefly doubled his advantage over overnight leader Alexander Levy by holing a curling 25-foot birdie putt on the first, only to drop his first shot of the day on the next after firing his approach over the green.

Worse was to follow on the next. The four-time European Tour winner needed two shots to escape a greenside bunker on the par-three third, before compounding the error by three-putting from 20 feet for a triple-bogey six.

Defending champion James Morrison, Alejandro Canizares and Levy were all three shots off the pace, Levy adding a 76 to his opening 66 and Morrison and Canizares both shooting 75s.

Tournament host Sergio Garcia is six shots off the pace after adding a 71 to his opening 74, with two-time Major winner Martin Kaymer a shot better off after a 75.

“Every day at Valderrama is tough, but today was definitely very testing. It’s just a little disappointing to three-putt the last, but other than that it was a pretty good day,” said Garcia

Paul Dunne made it to the weekend on seven-over-par 149, after adding a 76 to his opening 73, and Peter Lawrie, a former champion at this event, joined him on the cut mark of nine over, with a 74 for 151.