Gregory Havret claims halfway lead at Trophee Hassan II
Saturday 15 April 2017 18:54, UK
Gregory Havret claimed the halfway lead at the Trophee Hassan II in Morocco as James Morrison and Paul Dunne stayed in contention on another high-scoring second day.
Havret matched his opening 70 to hit the front outright on six under par, and the French veteran will go into the weekend with a one-shot lead over Lucas Bjerregaard and Trevor Fisher Jnr, with Morrison and Dunne just two off the pace.
The tough, narrow Royal Golf Dar Es Salam layout again took its toll on most of the field, with Benjamin Hebert the only player on the second day to complete a bogey-free round.
But Hebert's fellow Frenchman Havret is the man to catch over the weekend after he carded an eagle, four birdies and three bogeys, and his lead would have been greater had it not been for dropped shots at each of the last two holes.
The 40-year-old, who won the last of his three European Tour titles at the Johnnie Walker Championship in 2008, had cruised to the turn in 34 and followed a birdie at 11 with a superb eagle at the next which lifted him to eight under.
Havret offset a mistake at 13 with another birdie at 15, but his bogey-bogey finish took the gloss off his round, and he said: "It's always a bit of a shame to finish like that, but the rest was pretty good. This course is tough so you can't avoid mistakes all day long.
"So far, so good. I'm quite happy with the way it's been. I know more than anybody probably that the road is still long. But I'm obviously very happy, I'm playing well, I love this course, I love this place and I'm loving this country. And I feel good."
Bjerregaard had four birdies and two bogeys in a battling 71, while Fisher jumped into a share of second despite dropping three shots in two holes, responding with three late birdies to return a 70.
Ireland's Dunne, who leapt to prominence when leading the 2015 Open while still an amateur, made a solid start with a birdie at the second and eight pars in an outward 35 before he made a big move up the leaderboard when he eagled the 10th and birdied the next two.
Dunne picked up another shot at 15 to tie the lead but, like Havret, he endured a poor finish to his round and bogeyed 16 and 17 to sign for a 69.
Morrison shared the overnight lead after his opening 70, but the two-time European Tour winner struggled for consistency on day two as he mixed six birdies with five bogeys in a 71 which left him sharing fourth with Dunne and another Frenchman, Gregory Bourdy.
England's Tom Lewis and Hebert both posted the low round of the day, a pair of 68s lifting them to three under as only 29 of the 144 starters reached the halfway stage under par.
But defending champion Jeunghun Wang will have an unscheduled weekend off after missing the cut by two shots, while Ryder Cup captain Thomas Bjorn and former Masters winner Mike Weir were among the others to bow out early.
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