Spain’s Ivo Giner shot a flawless seven under par 65 at Real Club de Golf Sotogrande to move into the lead on nine under par 135 in the European Tour Qualifying School Finals, one shot ahead of Scotland’s Alastair Forsyth, who shot a 71 at San Roque Club.
Giner missed only one green in what he described as his best round of the year. “I was always putting for birdie,” said the 23-year-old. This is his third time at the Qualifying School Finals. In 1997 he earned his Tour card but returned again last year, missing out on one of the top 35 places by a shot. Indeed, he is no stranger to Sotogrande – four years ago he was involved in a play-off for the Spanish Amateur Championship here with Francisco Cea, who went on to win, and a 15-year-old Sergio Garcia.
He birdied the second after hitting a sand wedge to three feet and then holed an 18 footer from the fringe on the 332 yards third. But his round really got going at the ninth from where he fired shot after shot at the pins, picking up five birdies in six holes with putts of no more than three feet.
Scotland and Rangers football fan, Forsyth, put the disappointment of Wembley behind him to move within a shot of the lead after two rounds. The 23 year old from Paisley, aiming to follow in the footsteps of another native of that town, Ross Drummond, who won the Qualifying School last year, shot a 71 for an eight under par total of 136.
The sturdy Scot, who had opened with a 65, picked up three shots on the front nine but made two bogeys coming home and needed a final hole birdie to retain his advantage.
Forsyth, winner of the ‘Tartan Tour’ Order of Merit in Scotland, said: “It was not as good as yesterday. You can often expect a reaction to a 65 but if you are swinging well it should be okay. I am still swinging well.”
Aged 23, Forsyth turned professional last year and he is now on target to achieve his first goal – the 72-hole cut which falls on Saturday night.
Forsyth ended the round one stroke ahead of England’s Matt Blackey from Hampshire, who shot an excellent four under par 68, to lie alongside fellow Englishman, David Lynn.
Blackey, attempting to win his card for the third time, had seven birdies in his round of 68 which left him on 137 after two rounds. He said: “I missed my card by one shot after the weather resulted in the event being cut to four rounds in 1997. That was frustrating but unavoidable. This time I feel happy being here. I know what’s required.”
Lynn, who finished runner-up to Paul McGinley in the 1996 Austrian Open, added a 69 to his 68 at Sotogrande to lie alongside Blackey.
Three shots adrift is Richard Johnson, winner of the Neuchatel Open Golf Trophy on the Challenge Tour in Switzerland in July, and South African Ian Hutchings. Johnson birdied two of his last three holes at Sotogrande for a second successive 69 to move to six under par.
“The game feels good at the moment,” said the 23-year-old. “I won the Neuchatel earlier in the year and was playing great around that time but then got burnt out. I played 15 weeks in a row and had a terrible fall down the Rankings. But the game is coming back and I’m hoping for a top ten this week.”
A further shot off the pace are five players – Italy’s Massimo Florioli, England’s Malcolm Mackenzie and Grant Hamerton and Frenchman Jean-Francois Lucquin, who all played at Sotogrande today and American Tom Gillis.
Florioli got off to a flying start, birdieing his first five holes and then adding another on his seventh, the 16th at Sotogrande for an outward half of 30 . But the birdies dried up from there and he dropped one shot coming home for a round of 67.
For the second day running Mackenzie, 119th in the Volvo Order of Merit, had a momentary lapse of concentration as he went to tap a putt in only to see the ball miss the hole. His mental error cost him a double bogey on the par three fourth at Sotogrande. His round of 70 included three birdies and an eagle on the 14th where he fired a two iron to eight feet and left him in good shape after two rounds.
Jean-Francios Lucquin, winner of the second stage of Qualifying School at Perelada, made four birdies without a bogey for a round of 68 while Hamerton picked up six birdies and four bogeys on his way to a 70.
“I’m quite happy with a 70 today,” said Hamerton, who came out here two weeks early to avoid the poor weather at home in Manchester. “Hit some good shots and hit some bad but nobody is really going forward.”
For Phillip Walton there was none of the fireworks of his first round although he did follow his eagle, eagle, birdie finish at San Roque yesterday with another birdie on the opening hole at Sotogrande. The Dubliner shot a one over par 73. Another former Ryder Cup player Steven Richardson set about recovering from his double and triple bogeys in the first eight holes of the first round with a solid 71, one under, to move to three over par.
Justin Rose also moved back into the frame with a 69 to advance into the red figures at one under par.
Drummond, the winner last year, shot a 73 for 146, two over par, while the 1997 Rookie of the Year, Scott Henderson, suffered in the sun with an 83 for 155. Ex-Ryder Cup player Paul Way fired a 73 for 147.
With two of the six rounds completed the leaders will play at Sotogrande tomorrow with the lower half of the field playing at San Roque.
