French golfer Sébastien Gros set the pace with a sizzling round of 64, eight under par, on day two of the Challenge de España at Real Club Sevilla Golf.
His performance earned him a two-stroke lead heading into the weekend, with a total score of nine under par.
Gros started the day three strokes off the lead but quickly climbed the leaderboard with four consecutive birdies from holes three through six.
Despite a bogey on the seventh hole, he rebounded with another birdie at the ninth to finish the front nine at four under par.
On the back nine, Gros added two more birdies at the 13th and 15th before an eagle on the par-five 16th, which put him firmly in the lead.
Reflecting on his round, Gros said, “I didn’t think that eight under par was possible around here, especially with the greens getting firmer.”
He noted that a long eagle putt on the 16th helped him stay on track. Gros, who won twice on the Challenge Tour in 2015, is aiming for a third career title this weekend but remains cautious about the days ahead. “It’s only two rounds, so it’s just halfway. Maybe it’ll be better, maybe it’ll be worse, but I’ll keep going,” he added.
Sharing second place at seven under par are Frenchmen Martin Couvra and Félix Mory, Englishman Jamie Rutherford, Finn Tapio Pulkkanen, Dane Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen, and Norwegian Andreas Halvorsen.
The leaderboard is tightly packed, with Englishman Garrick Porteous and Swede Niklas Lemke in eighth place at six under par, and eight players tied at five under par, including Spaniards Alfredo Garcia-Heredia and Joel Moscatel.
The third round of the Challenge de España begins at 8:00 am local time. Gros will tee off alongside Rutherford and Pulkkanen at 12:50 pm.
Scores after round two:
135 S GROS (FRA) 71 64,
137 J RUTHERFORD (ENG) 69 68, T PULKKANEN (FIN) 68 69, R NEERGAARD-PETERSEN (DEN) 69 68, M COUVRA (FRA) 70 67, F MORY (FRA) 70 67, A HALVORSEN (NOR) 69 68,
138 G PORTEOUS (ENG) 71 67, N LEMKE (SWE) 73 65,
139 E WALKER (SCO) 69 70, A GARCIA-HEREDIA (ESP) 70 69, J DAVIDSON (WAL) 68 71, J MOSCATEL (ESP) 68 71, P KATICH (GER) 71 68, C BARROW (ENG) 69 70, R SANTOS (POR) 69 70, F KENNEDY (ENG) 71 68,
140 P BOVARI (ITA) 74 66, R WILLIAMS (RSA) 69 71,
141 J G?TH-RASMUSSEN (DEN) 68 73, S MAZZOLI (ITA) 71 70, J SAINZ (ESP) 69 72, H BROWN (DEN) 70 71, R ENOCH (WAL) 68 73, B ROBINSON THOMPSON (ENG) 70 71, J LEE (USA) 70 71, R MULLARNEY (IRL) 71 70, H MAGNUS (ISL) 72 69,
142 J DEAN (ENG) 74 68, S HUTSBY (ENG) 68 74, Q VIDAL (ESP) 71 71, E ROUSAUD (ESP) 72 70, R LUMSDEN (SCO) 71 71, A QUIROS (ESP) 71 71, N KRISTENSEN (DEN) 69 73, B HEBERT (FRA) 70 72, R MCGOWAN (ENG) 71 71, M HONKALA (FIN) 70 72, B EASTON (RSA) 72 70, L KEUNEN (NED) 71 71,
143 W BESSELING (NED) 74 69, D BERNA MANZANARES (ESP) 69 74, J ALLAN (ENG) 72 71, A LEVY (FRA) 71 72, D HORSEY (ENG) 73 70, P ANGLES (ESP) 68 75, J ANDERSEN (DEN) 72 71, J HILLEARD (ENG) 70 73, J DE BRUYN (GER) 70 73, P PINEAU (FRA) 70 73, G DE LEO (ITA) 69 74, A CHESTERS (ENG) 70 73, B ?KESSON (SWE) 71 72, D MCELROY (NIR) 70 73,
144 A PLANT (ENG) 75 69, G BOURDY (FRA) 69 75, L RUUSKA (FIN) 74 70, R WATTEL (FRA) 70 74, A ZEMMER (ITA) 71 73, B MARTIN (ESP) 71 73, C LINDH (SWE) 72 72, R ROUSSEL (FRA) 75 69, J PARRY (ENG) 71 73, T ED?N (SWE) 73 71, L VACARISAS (ESP) 73 71, J LAGERGREN (SWE) 74 70, C WOOD (ENG) 70 74, J FLOYDD (ENG) 74 70, D YOUNG (SCO) 73 71, O LINDELL (FIN) 73 71, M LINDBERG (SWE) 74 70, J SENIOR (ENG) 74 70, O HUNDEB?LL (DEN) 70 74, R KLEU (SUI) 74 70, C GUICHARD (FRA) 72 72, M MARTIN (ENG) 76 68,
145 D FOOS (GER) 72 73, J BERRY (ENG) 74 71, H TOWNSEND (SWE) 72 73, M STEWART (SCO) 71 74, C BRING (DEN) 72 73, ? ?TIRN (SLO) 75 70, M GRADECKI (POL) 74 71, C BLOMSTRAND (SWE) 70 75, G BOYD (ENG) 74 71, J MCDONALD (SCO) 71 74, W NIENABER (RSA) 73 72, J FREIBURGHAUS (SUI) 72 73, C HOWIE (SCO) 70 75, D NAIDOO (RSA) 71 74, K REITAN (NOR) 72 73,
146 L JOHNSTON (SCO) 73 73, T VAHLENKAMP (GER) 73 73, O GUILLAMOUNDEGUY (FRA) 73 73, J SALE (FRA) 73 73, O FARR (WAL) 71 75,
147 O GILLBERG (SWE) 72 75, T GOUVEIA (POR) 71 76, M HAMMER (GER) 73 74, R KARLBERG (SWE) 74 73, G BLOOR (ENG) 75 72, T SHADBOLT (ENG) 73 74, M GIBOUDOT (FRA) 73 74, P L?NGFORS (SWE) 73 74,
148 G FDEZ-CASTA?O (ESP) 69 79, E CUARTERO BLANCO (ESP) 75 73, C BRAEUNIG (GER) 77 71, R HOLMBERG (SWE) 72 76, R KAKKO (FIN) 73 75, V GARCIA BROTO (ESP) 68 80, A ETCHENIQUE (FRA) 77 71, J PASTOR (ESP) 73 75, M GILARDI (SUI) 76 72,
149 M MADSEN (DEN) 79 70, B RUSCH (SUI) 73 76, C PURCELL (IRL) 75 74, S FERNANDEZ (ESP) 75 74, A AYORA (ESP) 71 78, C PIGEM (ESP) 74 75, T TETAK (SVK) 77 72, G HURLEY (IRL) 77 72, R THOMPSON (ENG) 76 73, A MAGUIRE (IRL) 71 78, J GOUGH (ENG) 74 75, J CALDWELL (NIR) 74 75, S BROHOLT LIND (DEN) 75 74, K VAN DER WEELE (NED) 75 74,
150 P ORIOL (ESP) 78 72, V PASTOR (ESP) 74 76, L MASAVEU (AM) (ESP) 74 76, O FISHER (ENG) 72 78, L VAN MEIJEL (NED) 74 76, G KRISTJANSSON (ISL) 76 74, A BOASSON (ISL) 76 74, J MAICAS (ESP) 72 78,
151 J PARDO BENITEZ (ESP) 79 72, B VIRTO (ESP) 77 74, C O’ROURKE (IRL) 77 74, M BARGENDA (POL) 75 76, Y SCHUETZ (GER) 79 72, M SCHMITT (GER) 77 74, J MURPHY (IRL) 78 73, A CA?IZARES (ESP) 76 75,
152 G STAL (FRA) 73 79, A AGUILERA (ESP) 75 77,
153 C KNIPES (ENG) 77 76, G MASON (ENG) 78 75,
154 M POWER (IRL) 76 78, D BORDA (ESP) 74 80,
155 A ABREU (POR) 77 78, M QUIROS (ESP) 75 80,
156 J ZUSKA (CZE) 77 79, L CIANCHETTI (ITA) 74 82,
157 V LOPES (POR) 81 76,
**
OUT M WARREN (SCO) 74 RT, A WILSON (ENG) 75 WD,
