Alfred Dunhill Championship 2019: Pablo Larrazabal opens commanding lead in second round

Spain’s Pablo Larrazabal leads the Alfred Dunhill Championship by three shots at the halfway stage, after two solid rounds in South Africa.

Pablo Larrazabal followed up his Thursday 66 with a second sub-70 round. The Spaniard carded a 69 on Friday to move three shots clear of the rest at the Alfred Dunhill Championship, sitting pretty at -9.

The four-time European Tour winner had to recover from a double bogey at the 7th, but he did so in fine fashion, as he went on to make birdies at the 10th, 11th, 12th and 13th to distance himself from the field.

Overnight leader Wil Besseling posted a one-over-par round of 73, but remains inside the top three. He is currently in a tie for 2nd alongside one of the many home favourites, Branden Grace.

The South African shot a 70 on the second day at Leopard Creek, to move further up the leaderboard, while England’s Jack Singh Brar and another of the South African contingent, Thomas Aiken, both shot level-par 72s to sit at -4, two back of the chasers, and five off the lead.

They are in a tie for 4th alongside Marcus Armitage, who is making his European Tour debut. The Englishman, who came through the final stage of the European Tour’s Qualifying School last week in Spain, has carded two consecutive rounds of 70 and is in contention.

Frenchman Antoine Rozner was the biggest mover on the second day in South African, as he shot the low round of 67 to move up 70 places and into the top ten. He is at -3, alongside Garrick Porteous, Jaco van Zyl and Adrian Otaegui.

Four-time Alfred Dunhill Championship winner Charl Schwartzel remains at -2 after a level-par round of 72. He is in a tie for 11th, while the likes of Daniel van Tonder and Robin Roussel both dropped out of the top ten after posting three-over-par rounds of 75.

27 men sit under par at the halfway stage at Leopard Creek, with Eddie Pepperell and George Coetzee among those at level par after two days.

It was a bad day for the like of Alejandro Canizares (77), Keith Horne (79) and David Drysdale (77), who all carded high rounds to drop out of the red numbers and down the leaderboard.

71 golfers have made it through to the weekend, and kudos must go to 18-year-old amateur Jayden Trey Schaper, who is into the weekend’s action after two rounds of 73. He sits at +2, a shot above the cut line, due in part to this wonderful effort at the par-4 6th.

Ernie Els, Edoardo Molinari, Brandon Stone and Ross Fisher are among those at +3 in a tie for 61st, in the final group to make it through to Saturday’s third round.

There were some big names to miss out on the cut line, including Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Thomas Bjorn and Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano, while former Alfred Dunhill winner Garth Mulroy also failed to make the cut.

The final group tomorrow will see Pablo Larrazabal and Branden Grace play with each other, with the pair starting their third rounds at 12:03 (GMT+2).

Alfred Dunhill Championship 2019 Leaderboard:

1 (-9): Pablo Larrazabal (ESP)

T2 (-6): Branden Grace (RSA), Wil Besseling (NED)

T4 (-4): Marcus Armitage (ENG), Thomas Aiken (RSA), Jack Singh Brar (ENG)

T7 (-3): Adrian Otaegui (ESP), Antoine Rozner (FRA), Garrick Porteous (ENG), Jaco van Zyl (RSA)

Selected Others:

T11 (-2): Zander Lombard (RSA), Charl Schwartzel (RSA)

T14 (-1): Justin Harding (RSA), Robin Roussel (FRA), Daniel van Tonder (RSA)

T28 (E): Eddie Pepperell (ENG), Alejandro Canizares (ESP), George Coetzee (RSA)

T43 (+1): Keith Horne (RSA), Benjamin Poke (DEN), David Drysdale (SCO)

T54 (+2): Hennie Otto (RSA), Oliver Wilson (ENG), Jayden Trey Schaper (A, RSA)

T61 (+3): Ernie Els (RSA), Ross Fisher (ENG), Edoardo Molinari (ITA)

Missed Cut:

T72 (+4): Justin Walters (RSA), Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano (ESP)

T90 (+6): Thomas Bjorn (DEN), Marcel Siem (GER)

T98 (+7): Soren Kjeldsen (DEN), Christiaan Bezuidenhout (RSA)

T112 (+9): Oliver Fisher (ENG), Cormac Sharvin (NIR)

T141 (+12): Garth Mulroy (RSA)