Portugal Masters: Oliver Fisher leads, picking up where he left off last year

Oliver Fisher leads at the halfway stage of the Portugal Masters after carding back-to back 65s at the Dom Pedro Victoria Golf Course in Vilamoura.

Oliver Fisher rose to fame at this very tournament last year, after he shot the only ever sub-60 round on the European Tour, and he is looking to now take victory at the very same course in the 2019 Portugal Masters.

The Englishman did not quite manage the heights of his second round 59 last year, but a second consecutive 65 puts him in the lead at the halfway point, sitting at -12.

As he looks down the leaderboard to see who is challenging him, he will find SEVEN South African stars inside the top ten and ties. SEVEN!

Justin Walters is just a shot behind the leader in a tie for second place, alongside Korea’s Jeunghun Wang, with Brandon Stone, the second South African a further shot back.

Haydn Porteous and Darren Fichardt both sit at -9, alongside England’s Eddie Pepperell in for fifth, with George Coetzee on his own in eighth, four behind the leader.

Dean Burmester and overnight leader Louis de Jager are in the group in a tie for ninth, making it seven South Africans inside the top ten. The latter did not have a great day, as he carded a 72 to drop away from the lead, but he did sink this eagle putt at the 17th.

https://twitter.com/EuropeanTour/status/1187759439971082245

They are joined at -7 by the leading home hope, Tiago Cruz and the reigning Portugal Masters winner, Tom Lewis. Fellow Englishman Jack Singh Brar, who sat on the bubble of 117th in the battle to retain his Tour card, is also in the group, along with Welshman Jamie Donaldson and France’s Adrien Saddier.

The likes of Pablo Larrazabal, Martin Kaymer, Matt Wallace and Shubhankar Sharma all sit within eight of the leader with 36 holes to play, but there was some even bigger names that missed the cut in Vilamoura, which stood at level par, and saw 70 men make it through to the weekend.

They included 2018 European Ryder Cup captain Thomas Bjorn, who followed up his first round 67 with a six-over-par 77 on Friday, dropping himself to +2.

Fellow Dane Lucas Bjerregard also failed to make it to the final two rounds, as did Daniel Rodrigues, who remains the high amateur, despite not making the cut.

The Irish duo of Padraig Harrington and Paul Dunne also failed to stay inside the cut line, along with Alexander Levy, Raphael Jacquelin and Alvaro Quiros among others.

Back to the top, and the leader, Oliver Fisher, will play alongside Justin Walters in the final group, teeing off at 13:20 local (GMT+1), but can any of those in the hunt shoot a low number and post a score in the clubhouse?

Play starts in Portugal at 07:50 local, with another South African, in Jacques Kruyswijk, and Scotland’s Paul Lawrie getting the action underway.

Leaderboard:

1 (-12): Oliver Fisher (ENG)

T2 (-11): Justin Walters (RSA), Jeunghun Wang (KOR)

4 (-10): Brandon Stone (RSA)

T5 (-9): Eddie Pepperell (ENG), Haydn Porteous (RSA), Darren Fichardt (RSA)

8 (-8): George Coetzee (RSA)

T9 (-7): Dean Burmester (RSA), Adrien Saddier (FRA), Tiago Cruz (POR), Louis de Jager (RSA), Jack Singh Brar (ENG), Jamie Donaldson (WAL), Tom Lewis (ENG)

Selected Others:

T19 (-5): Martin Kaymer (GER), Matt Wallace (ENG), Jake McLeod (AUS)

T29 (-4): Shubhankar Sharma (IND), Ricardo Gouveia (POR), Hugo Leon (CHL)

T35 (-3): Ross Fisher (ENG), Ryan Fox (NZL), Sihwan Kim (USA)

T52 (-2): Tomas Santos Silva (POR), Andy Sullivan (ENG), Lee Westwood (ENG)

T63 (-1): Trevor Immelman (RSA), Bernd Ritthammer (GER)