Porsche European Open: Robert MacIntyre takes strong lead into weekend

Scotland’s Robert MacIntyre will take a commanding four shot lead into the weekend’s play at the Porsche European Open after shooting the best round of the day on Friday.

Robert MacIntyre carded a bogey-free 65 on Friday at the Porsche European Open, with three birdies on the front nine and four on the back nine, moving himself to -11 after two rounds at Green Eagle.

The Scot, who burst onto the scene after a wonderful performance at the Aberdeen Standard Investments Scottish Open in June, holds a four shot lead over home hope Bernd Ritthammer.

The German journeyman (currently No. 924 in the official world ranking) also went bogey-free through his second round, carding a six-under-par round of 66 to move up the leaderboard to -7, after finishing with three birdies in his last four holes.

Overnight leader Paul Casey sits a further two shots back, after carding a one-over-par round of 73 on the second day at Green Eagle.

The Englishman has four bogeys and three birdies in an inconsistent round, as he fell six shots behind the halfway leader MacIntyre.

Casey is joined by both Guido Migliozzi and Matthias Schwab in a tie for third at -5, with the Italian carding a bogey free round of 68 on Friday afternoon.

A further shot back at -4 sit Sweden’s Alexander Björk and Austrian Bernd Wiesberger, with the latter’s round including this eagle hole-out on the par-4 13th.

Six men then sit a further shot back, eight behind the leading Scot. They include German Dominic Foos, who shot one of the better rounds of the second day, after an eagle 3 at the 18th rounded off a 67.

The fan favourite is joined by Spain’s Pablo Larrazabal, Portugal’s Pedro Figueiredo, Norway’s Kristian Krogh Johannessen, South African Louis De Jager and Denmark’s Jeff Winther.

Among the group a further shot back at -2 are World No.9 Xander Schauffele and Czech Masters champion Thomas Pieters. The American recovered from shooting a 73 on Thursday to bounce back with a 69 on Friday to move into the red numbers for the tournament.

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Both Ben Stow and Max Rottluff sit at -1, with the pair having dropped down the leaderboards after shooting 75 on the second day. They both started the day at -4, but struggled for consistency on day two at Green Eagle.

The duo remained in red figures, among just 24 players who currently sit under par after two rounds in Germany, with conditions continuing to be tough.

Sat among the group at level par is another German, in Alexander Knappe, who shot a 67, one of the best rounds of the day, as he pushed himself up the leaderboard.

The likes of Padraig Harrington, Paul Waring, Patrick Reed and German amateur Marc Hammer are in blue figures after two rounds, but all move through to the weekend’s play, among the 70 that made the cut.

However, there was no such luck for those at +4. They included former Masters winner Trevor Immelman, 2018 European Ryder Cup captain Thomas Bjørn and American star Matt Kuchar.

Last year’s Porsche European Open champion, Richard McEvoy, could only make +5 after the first two days, as his first European Tour title defence faltered at Green Eagle.

Spain’s Emilio Cuartero Blanco really struggled on the second day, as he shot a 79 to drop way down the leaderboard and below the cut line come the end of Friday’s play.

There were no such difficulties for MacIntyre and Ritthammer, who will tee off in the final group on Saturday, getting their third rounds underway at 13:15 local time (UTC+2).

Meanwhile, Aussie Adam Bland and South Africa’s Jaco Van Zyl will kick the third day off nearly six hours earlier, getting their days started at 07:35.

Porsche European Open 2019 Leaderboard:

1 (-11): Robert MacIntyre (SCO)

2 (-7): Bernd Ritthammer (GER)

T3 (-5): Guido Migliozzi (ITA), Matthias Schwab (AUT), Paul Casey (ENG)

T6 (-4): Alexander Björk (SWE), Bernd Wiesberger (AUT)

T8 (-3): Pablo Larrazabal (ESP), Jeff Winther (DEN), Dominic Foos (GER), Pedro Figueiredo (POR), Louis De Jager (RSA), Kristian Krogh Johannessen (NOR)

Selected Others:

T14 (-2): Thomas Pieters (BEL), Xander Schauffele (USA)

T20 (-1): Ben Stow (ENG), Max Rottluff (GER), Sam Horsfield (ENG)

T25 (E): Alexander Knappe (GER), Andy Sullivan (ENG), Lucas Herbert (FRA)

T32 (+1): Padraig Harrington (IRL), Matthew Southgate (ENG), Rikard Karlberg (SWE)

T45 (+2): Paul Waring (ENG), Patrick Reed (USA), Alvaro Quiros (ESP)

T58 (+3): Ross Fisher (ENG), Marc Hammer (A, GER), Ryan Fox (NZL), Zander Lombard (RSA)

Missed Cut:

T71 (+4): Matt Kuchar (USA), Thomas Bjørn (DEN), Trevor Immelmann (RSA)

T87 (+5): Richard McEvoy (ENG), Lucas Bjerregard (DEN), Kalle Samooja (FIN)

T105 (+6): Emilio Cuartero Blanco (ESP), Lorenzo Gagli (ITA)

T123 (+8): Michael Campbell (NZL), Adri Arnaus (ESP)