Andreas Harto takes the halfway lead at the D+D Real Czech Challenge Open
Andreas Hartø stormed into lead after firing a five-under par 67 in the second round of the inaugural D+D Real Czech Challenge Open, on Friday, October 12, 2012.
The third-last tournament of the 2012 European Challenge Tour season is being played at the prestigious Kunetická Hora Golf Club.
The Dane birdied the first two holes prior to conceding a bogey on the third hole. Thereafter, he made a strong run of four straight birdies, starting from the sixth hole and reached the top of the leaderboard.
On the back nine of the course, he failed to avail the birdie opportunities and added only one shot that came on the 13th hole.
Meanwhile, he also conceded a bogey on the 12th hole, which restrained him from taking a two-stroke lead over his competitors in the field.
At the end of the day, he found himself leading the field with a one-stroke margin. He now has a 12-under par overall score, entering the last two rounds on the weekend.
Despite missing a number of birdie chances on the back nine, he was pleased with his overall performance.
“I got off to a great start again,” said Hartø. “I played solid and made some good putts on the front nine but didn’t really get it going on the back nine and missed a few putts coming in”.
He added, “It could have been better but I will always take a five under round. It was just good shots all of the way through, especially on that run of four birdies”.
The strong showing in the second round has put him in a pole position for the third European Challenge Tour victory of his career.
In addition to that, he also eyes the top spot in the Challenge Tour Rankings. He currently lists eighth in the standings and a victory in the €160,000 event will elevate him ahead of the current leader, Gary Lockerbie.
Talking to the reporters, he stated that he hardly looked at the leaderboard while playing his second round.
“I have a hard time not looking at the leaderboard to be honest,” said the Copenhagen native. “There is still plenty of golf left in this tournament but it was another good round”.
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