Czech Masters: Edoardo Molinari holds two shot lead at halfway mark

European Tour veteran Edoardo Molinari is the 36-hole leader at the D+D Real Czech Masters, having shot 66 for a second straight day.

Edoardo Molinari went bogey-free on Friday at the D+D Real Czech Masters, with six birdies on the card, to match his opening round and put himself two shots clear of the chasing pack at the halfway mark.

‘Dodo’ had three birdies in his last five holes, including a finishing birdie at 18 for the second straight day, to give himself a buffer going into the weekend’s action at the Albatross Golf Resort on the outskirts of Prague.

Just one man sits at -10, two behind the Italian. That happens to be  former winner and runner-up of this event, Thomas Pieters.

The Belgian, who starred in the Ryder Cup for Europe in 2016. Took the victory here in 2015, before following it up with a 2nd place finish a year later.

He is in the hunt at Albatross once more, after a second consecutive round of 67. The Belgian birdied the last three holes of the day to put himself in an outright second spot.

Pieters and Molinari will be the final group on Saturday afternoon, and will tee off at 14:20 local time, as they look to take the 54-hole lead ahead of Sunday’s action.

Four men sit in a group at -9, including the man who shot the joint best round of the day. England’s Sam Horsfield, Chile’s Hugo Leon and Swede Robert Karlsson are joined by Matthias Schwab.

More from Pro Golf Now

• Golf Rumors: LIV set to sign Masters Champion in stunning deal
• Fantasy Golf: Grant Thornton Invitational DFS Player Selections
• Brutal return leaves Will Zalatoris looking towards 2024
• Stars You Know at World Champions Cup Starts Thursday at Concession
• Fantasy Golf: An Early Look at the 2024 Masters Tournament

The Austrian shot a 65 on Friday, moving him 36 places up the leaderboard to sit in a tie for third spot. Also shooting a seven-under-par round on day two was Spaniard Adri Arnaus.

He sits at -8 after an opening 71, but is now just four shots off Molinari’s -12. Arnaus is joined by last year’s Czech Masters champion Andrea Pavan, along with Lee Slattery, Liam Johnston, Rikard Karlberg, Joachim Hansen and Jacques Kruyswijk.

A trio of South Africans are in the group at -7, including one of the day one front-runners in Erik van Rooyen. EVR followed up his fantastic opening 65 with a level-par 72, and was joined by countrymen Wilco Nienaber and J.C. Ritchie in a tie for 14th.

Aberdeen Standard Investments Scottish Open winner Bernd Wiesberger is also in that group five shots back, along with Victor Dubuisson, Mikko Korhonen, Kristoffer Reitan and the English pair of jack Singh Brar and Matthew Nixon.

One of the biggest shocks of the day was Gavin Green. The Malaysian led after a wonderful first round of 64, but he was the only man in the top 50 to score in the blue on day two.

Green could only card a three-over-par round of 75, dropping himself down to a tie for 33rd spot on the leaderboard, with Nicolas Colsaerts and former winner Haydn Porteous for company.

Both the outgoing and incoming European Ryder Cup captains made it through to the weekend on the cut line. The victorious 2018 captain, Thomas Bjorn, and the 2020 captain, Padraig Harrington, finished the second round at -3.

The pair just scraped in amongst the 71 players to make the cut, with Bjorn hitting one of the shots of the day, a driver of the deck to the heart of the green at the 15th.

There were some big names that dropped out of the event at the halfway stage, though, including the English pair of Lee Westwood and Eddie Pepperell.

Two former Czech Masters champions also fell out of the running. Despite shooting 70 72, Jamie Donaldson missed the cut by a single shot, while American Paul Peterson, the 2016 champion, finished at +5, missing the mark by eight shots.

Tomorrow’s action from Albatross gets underway at 08:15 local time, with Denmark’s Jeff Winther kicking things off. The leaders tee off six hours later at 14:20.

Leaderboard:

1 (-12): Edoardo Molinari (ITA)

2 (-10): Thomas Pieters (BEL)

T3 (-9): Sam Horsfield (ENG), Hugo Leon (CHL), Matthias Schwab (AUT), Robert Karlsson (SWE)

T7 (-8): Jacques Kruyswijk (RSA), Rikard Karlberg (SWE), Joachim Hansen (DEN), Adri Arnaus (ESP), Andrea Pavan (ITA), Liam Johnston (SCO), Lee Slattery (ENG)

T14 (-7): Erik van Rooyen, Wilco Nienaber, J.C. Ritchie (all RSA), Jack Singh Brar (ENG), Mikko Korhonen (FIN), Bernd Wiesberger (AUT), Matthew Nixon (ENG), Victor Dubuisson (FRA), Kristoffer Reitan (NOR)

Selected Others:

T23 (-6): Kim Koivu (FIN), Zander Lombard (RSA), Ashley Chesters (ENG)

T33 (-5): Gavin Green (MAS), Nicolas Colsaerts (BEL), Haydn Porteous (RSA)

T44 (-4): Alexander Levy (FRA), Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano (ESP), David Howell (ENG)

T51 (-3): Thomas Bjorn (DEN), Padraig Harrington (IRL), Robert MacIntyre (SCO)

Missed Cut:

T72 (-2): Stephen Gallacher (SCO), Jamie Donaldson (WAL)

T98 (E): Eddie Pepperell (ENG)            T109 (+1): Lee Westwood (ENG)

T119: (+2): Ernie Els (RSA), Adrian Otaegui (ESP)            T123 (+3): George Coetzee (RSA)

T136 (+5): Raphael Jacquelin (FRA), Paul Peterson (USA), Brandon Stone (RSA)