A seven-under-par round of 65 vaulted Jesper Svensson up the leaderboard in the second round of the Bahrain Championship; He shares the lead with Joel Girrbach and Dylan Frittelli; Watch the third round at the Royal Golf Course live on Sky Sports Golf on Saturday from 9am
Friday 2 February 2024 16:28, UK
Jesper Svensson carded the lowest round of the day with a seven-under-par 65 and stormed up the leaderboard to share the overall lead after the second round of the Bahrain Championship on Friday.
The Swede began the day six shots off the lead but hit five birdies and an eagle through the first 10 holes of the DP World Tour event.
After a bogey on the 17th, another birdie on his last hole drew him level at the top with Joel Girrbach and Dylan Frittelli at nine-under-par overall.
"It was tough out there," Svensson said after a day of strong winds at the Royal Golf Course.
"I set from the beginning to play quite conservative, and we were playing for the big targets. For the first part of the round, it felt like every time I had the putter it had a chance of going in, so it was nice."
Girrbach overcame a poor start hitting bogeys at the first two holes, and despite four bogeys overall, the Swiss player carded a two-under-par 70 having begun the round one shot behind overnight leader Tom Vaillant.
"It was a brutal start for me with two bogeys in the wind, it was a tough one early in the morning, but I stayed patient and happy with that finish," Girrbach said.
South African Frittelli birdied the last for a round of 68 to give him a share of the lead, with Alejandro Del Rey the closest contender, the Spaniard bogeyed the last to leave himself one shot off the trio.
Vaillant lost the lead after a one-over-par round but is still in contention just two shots behind the leading group.
Rasmus Hojgaard, the highest-ranked player in the field at No 70 and runner-up last week in Ras Al Khaimah, shot 73 to leave him five strokes off the lead.
Watch the third round of the Bahrain Championship live on Sky Sports Golf from 9am on Saturday. Also stream contract-free with NOW.
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