Rhys Davies shares the lead with Joost Luiten in Trophee Hassan II – European Tour
Two days of the Trophee Hassan II concluded yesterday with a rather dramatic outcome. The four day championship continues to be exciting, as the top 15 players are within a few strokes of the leaders. Defending champion Rhys Davies and Joost Luiten share
the lead on the leader board after the second day finished.
They lead the tournament with a margin of just one shot. Scoring was not that easy on the second day, as the conditions were a bit windy.
Davies continued his touch on the second day as well. He did not look in complete form as the conditions were windy. He only had two birdies and a single bogey in his round of one-under par, 70. Davies only bogey was on the par-4, 5th where his
approach shot to the green completely missed the target.
Davies after his round said, "I've been working hard on my swing with my coach, trying to match up my arm swing with my body swing, and it's getting there. The hard work is starting to come off. It's quite hard to do it in this wind though."
The Welshman was satisfied with his performance and is hoping to continue his momentum until the final round to successfully defend his title.
As for the Luiten, he started his first nine in a rather classic manner, but failed to continue his birdie streak. He had a total of seven birdies, a bogey and two double bogeys. The five lost strokes proved to be a costly, as he could have easily taken
a few shots advantage going in to the third round.
The two par-3’s really troubled Luiten. He first had a double bogey at the 3rd then the 7th. It seemed like the Dutchman could not find the green. He recovered from his drop shots by four birdies on his back-nine. Luiten shares the
lead and is hoping to play in the same manner in the next two rounds also.
Nine players are within the reach of the leaders. They had a similar score of five-under par after completion of the second round. David Horsey, Mikko Ilonen, Peter Hedblom, Indian duo of Shiv Kapur and Jeev Milka Singh, George Coetzee, Robert Rock, Julio
Zapata and Darren Clarke all occupy the third spot on the leader board.
Mikko Ilonen of Finland was truly fantastic on the second day. He rather surprised the scorers and carded a bogey-free round of eight-under par. His score card had eight birdies and had no drop shot for the day. This was the lowest round of the day as Ilonen
jumped from the bottom to the top of the leader board after posting this round.
Veteran Darren Clarke who missed the cut in his previous outing also shares the third spot. He had a round of three-under par and was looking in good form. Clarke only had a single bogey followed by four birdies on his card. He will surely be looking to
make a move on the third day to lead the championship.
As for the overnight leader Peter Lawrie, it was a tough outing for him. The wind and the heat factor really got to him, as he had a disastrous round. His score of five-over par clearly shows that the conditions really tested him. He had three bogeys and
a double bogey on his card. It was a rather disappointing day for him as he failed to produce another under-par round.
The tournament will continue to be interesting, as the third round commences today.
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