EUROPEAN TOUR: Sweden's Carl Pettersson extended his lead to six shots before high winds again badly disrupted the Algarve Open de Portugal at Vale do Lobo yesterday. Pettersson had a four-shot cushion after the conclusion of the first round, which was carried over into yesterday morning following a two-hour delay on Thursday due to the wind causing balls to move on the exposed greens near the Atlantic.
The 24-year-old then continued to look as if he was playing a different course to everyone else with three birdies in the space of four holes at the start of his second round, before play was suspended for a second time yesterday and eventually abandoned.
Several players had not even been able to begin their second round, and with the weather forecast poor for the weekend, a 54-hole tournament or extension into Monday is on the cards.
Pettersson was eight under par after six holes, with Scotland's Alastair Forsyth and England's Gary Evans his nearest challengers. Forsyth had also picked up three early birdies while Evans had only completed one hole.
England's Greg Owen and Spain's Miguel Angel Martin were safely in the clubhouse on one under par having completed their rounds, with English trio David Gilford, Brian Davis and Van Phillips also one-under on the course.
The halfway cut could not be made and left defending champion Phillip Price among those players waiting to see if they would make the final two, or one, rounds.
Price, whose victory 12 months ago was his second on the European Tour and second in the event, was one of 66 players unable to finish their opening round on Thursday. The Welshman had just two holes to play and completed them in level par to card a two-over-par 74, a creditable effort having battled through the worst of the conditions.
Leading second round scores (Brit unless stated, Irish in bold) (play abandoned for day due to high winds) 143 - G Owen 72 71, MA Martin (Spa) 73 70 144 - R Muntz (Ned) 71 73 145 - D Borrego (Spa) 77 68 146 - S Webster 74 72, E Canonica (Ita) 70 76 147 - M Lundberg (Swe) 79 68 148 - J Rose 76 72, I Garbutt 73 75, I Garrido (Spa) 75 73 149 - P Baker 77 72, D Smyth 75 74, S Tinning (Den) 76 73, S Kjeldsen (Den) 76 73, J Lomas 79 70, G Orr 76 73 150 - J Sandelin (Swe) 77 73 151 - M Mackenzie 80 71, M Jonzon (Swe) 75 76, K Ferrie 75 76, T Immelman (Rsa) 76 75, J Berendt (Arg) 77 74, S Gallacher 79 72, B Teilleria (Fra) 76 75, M Mouland 76 75 152 - M Lafeber (Ned) 79 73, P Price 74 78, RJ Derksen (Ned) 78 74, M Brier (Aut) 75 77 153 - M Roe 80 73, G Havret (Fra) 81 72, S Little 81 72, M Cort 78 75 154 - P Mitchell 78 76, P Golding 79 75, D Higgins 75 79, C Hoffman (USA) 78 76, J Johnson 75 79 155 - A Oldcorn 78 77, J Robinson 78 77, I Giner (Spa) 77 78, G Rojas (Arg) 78 77 156 - T Dier (Ger) 77 79, S Richardson 76 80 157 - M Scarpa (Ita) 84 73, I Pyman 78 79, M Davis 79 78, M P Atlevi (Swe) 76 81 158 - C Hanell (Swe) 77 81, P Walton 75 83 159 - J Hugo (Rsa) 79 80, C Suneson (Spa) 82 77, N Dougherty 79 80, I Hutchings (Rsa) 80 79 160 - S Delagrange (Fra) 82 78, H Stenson (Swe) 78 82 161 - F Andersson (Swe) 83 78 162 - P Eales 82 80, M Pilkington 75 87 163 - A Salto (Por) 81 82, R Winchester 80 83, (x) F Tavares (Por) 82 81, JM Cazal-Ribeiro (Por) 82 81 165 - P Hanson (Swe) 88 77 166 - N Cavalheiro (Por) 82 84 169 - (x) R Santos (Por) 85 84 172 - D Silva (Por) 92 80 173 - K Eriksson (Swe) 91 82. Rtd: M McLean, J Bickerton, A Wall.
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