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Broadhurst leads after second round of Madrid Open
Paul Broadhurst holds the lead at the halfway stage in the Open de Madrid at the Club de Campo on Friday.
- Indo-Asian News Service
- Updated: February 25, 2007 09:08 AM IST
Read Time:3 min
Madrid:
Paul Broadhurst holds the lead at the halfway stage in the Open de Madrid at the Club de Campo on Friday. The Englishman shot a six-under-par 65 to hold a two round total of 132, ten-under-par, one shot clear of local favourite Miguel Angel Jimenez, South Africa's Darren Fichardt and Johan Edfors of Sweden. Four players, including Graeme McDowell of Northern Ireland and Denmark's Anders Hansen, stand at eight-under, but just five strokes separate the top 24 going into the final two rounds of the Euro 1-million (US$ 1.26-million) tournament. Conditions were ripe for low scoring at the Club de Campo on Friday for the second round of the Madrid Open, but not everyone was able to take advantage. Overnight leader Julien Clement of Switzerland, after shooting eight birdies yesterday, carded six bogeys in round two to slip back to joint thirteenth and Britain's Ryder Cup hero Colin Montgomerie fared no better despite a tee shot to the par three 17th. The Scot is tied for 32nd place at three-under-par. Northern Ireland's Graeme McDowell carded seven birdies in a blemish free round of 64, seven-under for the day. The 25-year-old Italian Open champion's opening 70 leaves him among four players on eight-under-par, two shots off the lead. McDowell was joined at eight-under by Denmark's Anders Hansen, the 2002 Volvo PGA champion. Hansen set up an eagle on the 7th with this superb second shot from the troublesome rough and went on to add four more birdies in a battling 66. But the round of the day came from another Ryder Cup star, one with the Spanish galleries firmly behind him. Having gone out in 38 yesterday with four dropped shots in three holes, Miguel Angel Jimenez turned that around with eight unanswered birdies on Friday. The 40-year-old, who has won no fewer than four times on the European Tour this year, followed that with another birdie on the fourteenth, a hole that he took a six at yesterday, and this shot to the sixteenth, the scene of an ugly double bogey on Thursday. Yet another birdie was set up with this shot to the seventeenth, and the recent winner of the BMW International Open was even able to roll in bobbling putts like this 12-footer on the ninth to finish up with a 63. The eight-under-par round catapulted the Spaniard up to second place on the leaderboard, alongside South Africa's Darren Fichardt and Johan Edfors of Sweden one shot off the lead. But a 65 from Paul Broadhurst, to follow his opening 67, was good enough for the lead on ten-under going into the weekend. The 39-year-old Englishman, who last won on the European Tour back in 1995, is well positioned to break that drought this week, having finished fifth at both the Irish Open and the British Masters this year. (AP)Topics mentioned in this article
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