Gavin Green on Friday boosted his chances of becoming the first Malaysian to win on the European Tour after the second round of the Czech Masters, while John Daly followed his opening 64 with a poor three-over 75.
Five bogeys in his round meant that former The Open and PGA Championship winner Daly slipped to a tie for 36th place on five-under 139 after the 52-year-old American started the day in a share of the lead with Green, Callum Tarren and Thomas Pieters.
Green took first place outright after seven birdies, one bogey and a double-bogey gave him a four-under 68 and a one-stroke advantage over Jeff Winther of Denmark, who also returned a 68 at the Albatross Golf Resort near Prague.
“It was an up-and-down day,” Green said. “I had a couple of really good holes, good birdies and made some putts, but I had a couple of bad decisions that led to a double.”
“It’s fun to be leader and it’s been a while since I’ve been in this position, so I’m going to enjoy it,” he said. “My dad’s on the bag, so we’re going to have a nice dinner maybe and a good sleep and continue tomorrow.”
Sharing third on 134 were Pieters (70), Padraig Harrington (68), Andrea Pavan (69) and Tapio Pulkkanen (69).
England’s Eddie Pepperell, who is hoping to climb into an automatic qualifying slot for Europe’s Ryder Cup team, was on 137 after a 71.
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