Italy’s Andrea Perrino and Scotsman Craig Lee shared a one-shot lead after the second round of the Saint-Omer Open on Friday.
Lee had six birdies and three bogeys for a three-under-par 68 and a total of five-under 137 as he overcame windy and wet conditions. His Italian rival carded a two-under 69 with three birdies and one bogey.
Both men have a one-stroke lead over first-round leader George Coetzee of South Africa. Another Italian, Federico Colombo, is fourth at three-under.
“I’m delighted with that,” Lee said. “The scoring didn’t progress as much as I thought, so here I am leading the tournament. I’ve played nicely the last two days. This course is tricky at the best of times and with the wind it is hard. It’s supposed to only get worse tomorrow so it’s going to be an interesting weekend. This is the third time I’ve played here and twice before I’ve missed the cut.”
Benn Barham, Thomas Norret, Andrew Tampion, Marco Ruiz and Matthew Zions are tied for fifth, three strokes off the pace.
Perrino said he achieved a “dream” by leading a European Tour tournament for the first time of his career.
“I’ve just got to stay calm and make the best out it,” he said. “I’m not going to worry about it or play with fear. It’s just a game.”
Coetzee, who led by two shots after the first round, lost his lead with a bogey at the fourth and a double bogey at the 14th.
“I’m happy to take that score and still be in contention for the weekend,” he said. “It looked like the weather was going to be okay, but when we teed off it was pouring with rain, so it was tough out there. Hopefully we’ll have some nicer weather tomorrow and I can get some birdies going.”
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
If all goes well when the biggest marathon field ever gathered in Australia races 42km through the streets of Sydney on Sunday, World Marathon Majors (WMM) will soon add a seventh race to the elite series. The Sydney Marathon is to become the first race since Tokyo in 2013 to join long-established majors in New York, London, Boston, Berlin and Chicago if it passes the WMM assessment criteria for the second straight year. “We’re really excited for Sunday to arrive,” race director Wayne Larden told a news conference in Sydney yesterday. “We’re prepared, we’re ready. All of our plans look good on
The lights dimmed and the crowd hushed as Karoline Kristensen entered for her performance. However, this was no ordinary Dutch theater: The temperature was 80°C and the audience naked apart from a towel. Dressed in a swimsuit and to the tune of emotional music, the 21-year-old Kristensen started her routine, performed inside a large sauna, with a bed of hot rocks in the middle. For a week this month, a group of wellness practitioners, called “sauna masters,” are gathering at a picturesque health resort in the Netherlands to compete in this year’s Aufguss world sauna championships. The practice takes its name from a
When details from a scientific experiment that could have helped clear Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva landed at the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), the leader of the organization’s reaction was unequivocal: “We have to stop that urgently,” he wrote. No mention of the test ever became public and Valieva’s defense at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) went on without it. What effect the information could have had on Valieva’s case is unclear, but without it, the skater, then 15 years old, was eventually disqualified from the 2022 Winter Olympics after testing positive for a banned heart medication that would later