The international appeal of the inaugural Volvo Golf Champions was perfectly illustrated by the top of the leaderboard at the halfway stage as players from no fewer than four countries shared the lead on 11 under par 133.Three members of the victorious European Ryder Cup Team at Celtic Manor last October – Sweden’s Peter Hanson, Italy’s Edoardo Molinari (pictured) and Miguel Angel Jiménez of Spain – were joined in pole position by Frenchman Raphaël Jacquelin, as the tournament headed for a thrilling climax over the weekend at The Royal Golf Club in Bahrain.
Jacquelin, Jiménez and Molinari all carded seven under par 65s on the Montgomerie Course, with the most spectacular scoring coming from the Italian who began his second round on the tenth hole and proceeded to rattle in six birdies in the first six holes.
“It was a fantastic start,” said the 29 year old from Turin. “I’ve never started a round with six birdies before and, come to think of it, I don’t think I’ve ever had six birdies in a row anywhere in a round ever so it was pretty memorable stuff.”
Jiménez too had a day to remember for different reasons, having to putt for the majority of the back nine with the back of his lob wedge after damaging his putter when it collided with his golf bag. “I'm seriously thinking of carrying on putting with my lob‑wedge tomorrow – after all I made three birdies on the back nine with it today,” he joked.
Swede Hanson had a more up and down day than his three co-leaders, dropping shots at both the par four eighth and the par three 16th in his second round 67. But he more than made up for it with five birdies elsewhere, including four in a row from the 11th, and an eagle three at the par five ninth.
Hanson’s position was all the more impressive considering he came into the tournament on the back of a severe bout of ‘flu. “It wasn’t the best preparation and I’m still having to rest up and be careful with what I do but I’m feeling a lot better and as a result I feel like I'm a little bit more in control of my golf swing and where I'm placing the ball.”
The tightly packed nature of the top of the leaderboard was illustrated by the fact that 29 players finished the second round within four shots of the lead.
Heading the chasing pack on ten under par 134 was another group players from four different countries – England’s Paul Casey, Northern Ireland’s Darren Clarke, Scotland’s Stephen Gallacher and James Kingston of South Africa – with pride of place going to Gallacher who equalled Johan Edfors’ opening day course record 64 with his own eight under par effort.
The cut fell at two under par 142 meaning that 67 professional players qualified.
For more information about the tournament, visit the official website at http://www.volvogolfchampions.com/
