GOLF:IRELAND'S Peter Lawrie and Shane Lowry and are firmly in contention for the Czech Open after reaching the halfway stage in joint second and third respectively. Lowry had a best-of- the-day 64 and Lawrie a 68.
Thirteen players are separated by only two shots with the weekend to come – and they include two of the men chasing a Ryder Cup place. Peter Hanson, 15th on the points table, shares the lead on seven under par with fellow Swede Fredrik Widmark.
England’s Simon Dyson, one spot below Hanson in the cup race with only one more week to come, is on five under as he also seeks the win which would take him into the all-important top nine at the expense of Paul Casey.
Hanson, who received an invitation to the event on Monday, added a 70 to his opening 67 and said: “I left four or five shots out there, but I’m feeling good about my game.”
Widmark is a lowly 1,354th – joint last – on the world rankings after having shoulder surgery and then breaking his wrist falling off a roof. But the 34-year-old not only made his first halfway cut of the season on the European Tour, but caught Hanson by grabbing three birdies in his last four holes for a 67.
One behind are Lawrie, who in contrast bogeyed two of the last four, Belgian Nicolas Colsaerts, Argentina’s Clodomiro Carranza and another Swede, Fredrik Andersson Hed.
Dyson returned a 69 and commented: “It’s weird because I kind of expected there to be double figures (under par) by now, but there isn’t and that stands me in good stead.”
The incentive for him and Hanson is that Casey, Pádraig Harrington and Luke Donald, all of whom could have qualified, are missing next week’s Johnnie Walker Championship, opening the door to the chasing pack.
Lowry is alongside him and Welshman Bradley Dredge would have been as well but for arriving for his round 20 seconds late and being penalised two shots.
Spaniard Miguel Angel Jimenez, eighth in the cup standings and another who is not entered for next week, is also three under and English pair Ross McGowan and Oliver Wilson made the cut on level par to keep their fading cup hopes alive.
Of the rest of the Irish contingent, Michael Hoey shot a second round 72 to be five shots off the pace. Damien McGrane and Gary Murphy are a further four shots behind while Simon Thornton failed to make the cut.
(All players who make the cut –
Irish in bold, British unless stated)
137 – P Hanson (Swe) 67 70, F Widmark (Swe) 70 67.
138 – N Colsaerts (Bel) 73 65, Peter Lawrie 70 68, C Carranza (Arg) 69 69, FA Hed (Swe) 70 68.
139 – R Bland 68 71, A Wall 70 69, S Hend (Aus) 69 70, Shane Lowry 75 64, T Goya (Arg) 67 72, S Dyson 70 69, K Ferrie 71 68.
140 – S Kapur (Ind) 66 74, P Price 70 70, P Edberg (Swe) 70 70, J Guerrier (Fra) 68 72.
141 – S Webster 72 69, N Smith (USA) 71 70, M Warren 70 71, S Dodd 72 69, MA Jimenez (Spa) 71 70, F Zanotti (Par) 72 69, B Dredge 74 67, T Levet (Fra) 73 68.
142 – C Cevaer (Fra) 72 70, A Haig (Rsa) 70 72, P Waring 73 69, G Boyd 72 70, S Gallacher 74 68, R Kulacz (Aus) 69 73, R Finch 69 73, A Canizares (Spa) 72 70, O Henningsson (Swe) 73 69, P Martin (Spa) 74 68, G Fdez-Castano (Spa) 74 68, Michael Hoey 70 72.
143 – M Lundberg (Swe) 70 73, ET Johansen (Nor) 70 73, A Canete (Arg) 72 71, M Tunnicliff 70 73, B Hebert (Fra) 74 69.
144 – J-B Gonnet (Fra) 72 72, P Sjoland (Swe) 71 73, R Ramsay 75 69, M Lorenzo-Vera (Fra) 70 74, O Wilson 72 72, A McLean 70 74, M Lafeber (Ned) 72 72, J Elson 75 69, S Gross Jnr (Ger) 73 71,
J Donaldson 72 72, A Forsyth 74 70, R McGowan 73 71, T Stewart (Aus) 72 72.
145 – J Parry 73 72, S Hansen (Den) 73 72, D Lynn 73 72, V Dubuisson (Fra) 77 68, G Storm 71 74, S Lilly 72 73, M Ruiz (Par)
74 71, R Cabrera Bello (Spa) 73 72, M Foster 74 71.
146 – M Wiegele (Aut) 72 74, Damien McGrane 74 72, J Huldahl (Den) 78
68, M Soffietti (Ita) 75 71, P Whiteford 79 67, S E Bebb 73 73, S Drummond 72 74, S O’Hara 76 70, O Fisher 78 68, A Kang (USA) 71 75, G Clark 76 70, D Lee (Nzl) 75 71, Gary Murphy 73 73, T Fleetwood
75 71, E Canonica (Ita) 73 73.
Failed to make the cut: 147 – Simon Thornton 74 73.
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