Ryan Lumsden and Benjamin Hรฉbert share a one-stroke lead after day two of the Open de Portugal following significant delays due to fog at Royal รbidos.
Play on day two was delayed by three hours and 50 minutes before the morning groups got underway, with players teeing off later in the afternoon, including co-leader Hรฉbert, set to complete their second round tomorrow morning.
Overnight leader Lumsden carded a two under par second round 69 to reach eight under before Frenchman Hรฉbert fired four birdies in eight holes prior to play being suspended due to fading light to join him at the top of the leaderboard, one shot clear of American Matt Oshrine and Franceโs Pierre Pineau in second.
Lumsden responded quickly to a dropped shot at the second with three successive birdies, before adding another at the ninth. He maintained his score on the back until a bogey at 16, with pars at the final two holes leaving him eight under par going into the third round.
โIt was solid today,โ he said. โI got off to a nice start, which I was pleased with, and I managed to keep that aggressive mindset, but I’m a little frustrated with how I played the back nine.
โI feel like I could have pushed on a little bit more. I hit some good drives as the wind picked up and just couldn’t get the ball close enough, but the game’s really good and when its windy like this and the greens are tricky out there, you can’t expect everything to go your way.โ
The Scot, who was in the first group off the tee when play resumed, highlighted the difficulty of maintaining focus during the long delay, but is nevertheless confident as he goes in search of a first Challenge Tour title in Portugal this weekend.
โWe had a four-hour wait, which was a little weird,โ he added. โFor the first group it was tough โ you’re up at 5 am and don’t tee off until nearly midday โ but I was pleased with how I navigated that because it’s easy to get kind of stale.
โI was trying to stay fresh, move around a bit and forget about the fact we’re playing a golf tournament. I played some chess this morning, stuff like that, just to keep the mind off golf, because when you get fixated on it, itโs easy to have some tough thoughts out there when you’re having a long wait.
โMy game’s in a good spot. If I can be aggressive where I need to be, stay in that mindset and just try and hit great golf shots, I’ll be ok.โ
Frenchman Hรฉbert had to wait until 5:00 pm to get his second round underway but made a fast start with a birdie at the first. He added three further gains at the fifth, seventh and eighth to tie the lead before play was suspended as he made his way down the ninth.
The 37-year-old was pleased with the start to his round and is hoping for easier conditions tomorrow morning when play resumes.
โIt was a difficult day having to wait so long for my tee time, but itโs a good start,โ he said.
โTo get a good score you have to hole putts, and I think we are a bit lucky because the greens will be fresh tomorrow and a little easier to putt on.
โIโll focus on getting rest tonight and then take it shot by shot tomorrow. Hopefully Iโll be in a good position, and weโll have a good battle going into the weekend.โ
Welshman David Boote and Englandโs Ben Schmidt share fifth place at six under par, while four players are a shot further back in seventh, including German Michael Hirmer, Scottish amateur Gregor Graham, and Finnish players Tapio Pulkkanen and Oliver Lindell, who are yet to complete their second rounds.
Players who have not finished their second round will begin at 08:15 am local time, with the third round not due to start before 12:45 pm.
