BMW Italian Open: Gonzalo Fernandez-Castaño shares the second spot after two rounds
Spaniard Gonzalo Fernandez-Castaño was more than happy on the second day of the BMW Italian Open presented by CartaSi, as he fired an impressive 65 to tie for the second position along with three other competitors.
Fernandez-Castaño got off to a stunning start at the tournament, as he carded a 68 in Thursday’s opening round, at the Royal Park I Roveri.
He displayed an even better game on the second day, as he outperformed almost all his rivals in the field.
Starting the round on the 10th hole, the five-time European Tour winner looked firm to boost his position on the leaderboard.
He birdied 11th and 13th hole prior to losing a stroke on the 15th hole. He then finished the back nine with another birdie on the 18th
for a two-under par score.
The Spaniard star started the second phase with two straight pars on the first two holes. Thereafter, Fernandez-Castaño amazed the Italian spectators when he shot five birdies on the last seven holes of the day.
While talking to the European Tour’s official website, he stated an advice from the European Ryder Cup Captain José María Olazábal really helped him putt well during the second round.
"Olly (Olazabal) helped me with my putting two years ago, when he recommended that I putt with my feet together,” he said. “Last year I had another tip from a fellow Spaniard, telling me to use the claw grip, and it has made a massive difference”.
“I've been working with psychologists too, but it's not until you see the ball rolling into the hole on a regular basis that your confident levels go up and you believe you can putt," he added.
Marc Warren, Garth Mulroy and Grégory Bourdy were the other three players who joined him on the leaderboard, with an 11-under par two-round score.
Bourdy recorded the best round of the day, thanks to eight birdies for a bogey-free eight-under par 64.
He signed four birdies each before and after the turn, to settle one stroke behind the leader Richard Bland, who posted another 66 on Friday for a 12-under par halfway score.
Tags: