Marc Warren’s 65 leaves him joint second in Turin

Published on 15/09/2012 01:22

SCOTLAND’S Marc Warren shot an impressive 7-under par 65 to take a share of second place at the halfway stage of the Italian Open in Turin yesterday.

The 31-year-old from Rutherglen birdied four of the first five holes to make a great start, and finished his round by picking up shots at each of the last two holes. His 11-par total of 133 places him alongside France’s Gregory Bourdy, who shot a 64, Spaniard Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano (65) and Garth Mulroy of South Africa, just one shot behind the leader, Richard Bland.

Englishman Bland birdied the last three holes to card a second successive 66 and take the halfway lead.

Bourdy, who carded the best round of the day, said: “This morning it was perfect conditions to play on this course. It was a lovely round and I enjoyed it a lot. I was very solid and I’m very proud. Almost everything went right today.”

Richard McEvoy was at 10 under after following his opening 66 with a four-under-par 68.

First-round leader Joel Sjoholm fell into a seven-way tie for seventh on nine under after failing to go with the trend of improved scoring today.

He could only follow yesterday’s eight-under-par 64 with a 71 and was level with fellow Swedes Mikael Lundberg and Joakim Lagergren, Spain’s Pablo Larrazabal, South African Richard Sterne, England’s Sam Little and Victor Dubuisson of France.

English pair Lee Slattery and David Howell, hot on Sjoholm’s tail overnight, shot 71 and 70 respectively to join compatriot Robert Coles and a host of others on eight under.

Ryder Cup-bound Martin Kaymer, Spaniard Rafa Cabrera-Bello, Welshman Bradley Dredge, Darren Fichardt of South Africa and India’s Shiv Kapur completed the group.

Molinari’s brother Eduardo, the big-hitting Alvaro Quiros and Frenchman Thomas Levet were among the higher-profile players to miss the cut.