Jamie Donaldson eases into two-shot lead at Nordea Masters
Saturday 3 June 2017 18:45, UK
Jamie Donaldson put himself in pole position for a first European Tour victory since 2014 as he claimed a two-shot lead at the halfway stage of the Nordea Masters in Sweden.
Donaldson arrived at Barseback languishing at 181st in the Race to Dubai standings having made the cut in only three of his eight starts on Tour this season, but he continued to combat the cold and blustery conditions as he carded a second straight 69 to hit the front on eight-under par.
The Welsh veteran, who earned the winning point for Europe at the 2014 Ryder Cup, completed 36 holes with just one bogey on his card at the short 15th in round two, although he responded with back-to-back birdies which hoisted him into the outright lead.
Donaldson, who has slipped to 256th in the world rankings from a career high of 23rd less than three years ago, heads into the weekend with a two-stroke advantage over Renato Paratore, who carded an impressive one-under 72.
The young Italian, famed for playing at a brisk pace, was three over for the day after 10 holes before he birdied four of the next six to ensure outright second ahead of Benjamin Hebert and English pair Graeme Storm and Max Orrin.
Storm birdied three of his last four holes to return a 68 and claim a share of the early clubhouse lead with Challenge Tour star Orrin, whose battling 73 featured just one birdie and one bogey with 16 pars.
Last year's BMW PGA champion Chris Wood made excellent progress up the leaderboard as he made five birdies and an eagle in a confident 68 which lifted him to four under alongside Thorbjorn Olesen and Canadian Austin Connelly, who both fired 70s.
Defending champion Matt Fitzpatrick was flirting with the cut as he remained at level par after 15 holes, but he produced a superb finish with three consecutive birdies in a 70 which he capped with a monster 60-foot putt, while his Ryder Cup team-mate Andy Sullivan is a shot further back after a 71 which included the shot of the day, holing out from the fairway for eagle at the fifth.
The large group of players at one under features a host of star names, with home favourites Henrik Stenson and Alex Noren entering the second half of the tournament just seven behind the leader.
Stenson would have been one better had he not made his only bogey of the day at the last to post a 72, while last week's Wentworth winner Noren moved into red figures with a solid four-birdie 70 to join the likes of Lee Westwood and the in-form Nicolas Colsaerts in a share of 25th.
But Ryder Cup captain Thomas Bjorn will have the weekend off after taking 44 shots to negotiate the back nine and carding an 82 to finish on 11 over, while his first vice-captain, Robert Karlsson, was disqualified after signing for the wrong score after the first round.
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