Welshman Stuart Manley carded a four-under 68 to retain the lead at the halfway stage of the Portugal Masters on Friday.
After an impressive opening round 65, Manley’s second round effort at the Oceanico Victoria Golf Course kept him one shot ahead of Alvaro Quiros of Spain, who shot a 68.
Magnus Carlsson of Sweden and Scotland’s Paul Lawrie shot a 66 and 65 respectively to place themselves a stroke further back on nine-under.
PHOTO: AFP
Manley had led overnight after an opening 65 in which he played his back nine in five-under.
And a shining second half of his round, boosted by an eagle at the par-five 12th and birdies at the 15th and 16th, has boosted his morale.
“I played pretty good today,” said Manley, who is currently 174th on the Order of Merit and needs a solid result here to boost his chances of avoiding Qualifying School. “I didn’t quite make as many putts as yesterday [Thursday], but I would definitely have taken 68 at start of the day, so I’m delighted. To be honest, I played pretty good all year, but just not taking it into tournament golf.”
Manley has never been in contention for a Tour title before and could be pushed hard by Quiros, among others.
Lawrie joined Carlsson on nine-under after a bogey-free seven-under round of 65.
French pair Jean-Francois Lucquin and Gregory Bourdy, Chile’s Felipe Aguilar, Jyoti Randhawa of India and Sweden’s Robert Karlsson and are all one shot further back on eight-under.
■ SHRINERS OPEN
AFP, LAS VEGAS
Marc Turnesa fired an eight-under 64 to maintain a share of the lead after the second round of the US$4.1 million PGA Shriners Open on Friday.
Turnesa opened the day with a share of the lead along with Zach Johnson.
He had a late hiccup with a double-bogey at 17, but struck back with an eagle at the 18th.
“What can I say really?” Turnesa said. “I hit a bad shot on 17 and made double, and then on 18 hit a good shot and got a little lucky as well and it went in the hole.”
Johnson is alone in third a shot back at 17-under.
Last year’s Masters champion Johnson lost his share of the lead when he bogeyed his opening hole, but rebounded to finish with a seven-under 65.
John Mallinger is another shot back after signing for a 64 for the second straight round.
Ken Duke (66) and Pat Perez (63) are tied for fifth at 15-under 129.
■ KAPALUA CLASSIC
AFP, LAHAINI, HAWAII
Norway’s Suzann Pettersen posted an even-par 72 and has a share of the lead after the second round of the US$1.5 million LPGA Kapalua Classic on Friday.
Pettersen is tied atop the leaderboard with American Brittany Lang.
Pettersen moved to a four-under 140 total along with Lang, who shot one-under 71 in Friday’s round.
“I feel I’m in a great position,” Pettersen said. “I didn’t lose any ground. I tried to go two or three under. I’m going to try to play this course as best as I can for the next two days, take whatever the course gives us.”
Pettersen, who carded a four-under 68 to take the lead after Thursday’s opening round, came back to the pack thanks to a bogey on seven.
She had just two birdies and two bogeys during the round.
Pettersen, who is seeking her first win of the season, carded just one birdie on the front nine after four on the first nine holes of Thursday’s round.
Lang, who had three birdies and two bogeys on Friday, is also looking for her first career Tour win.
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