Padraig Harrington of Ireland came close to reclaiming his course record at The De Vere Belfry before a double bogey cost him that opportunity, but not the outright lead at the halfway stage of the 33rd Benson and Hedges International Open.
Harrington accumulated five birdies and an eagle to reach 11 under par and into a four stroke with two holes of his second round remaining, but a six at the eighth – the Dubliner’s 17th hole of the day – took a layer of gloss off his sterling effort. However a four under par 68 lifted him to the top of the leaderboard with a nine under par total of 135.
He leads by two strokes from defending champion Angel Cabrera of Argentina, who tagged a three under par 69 onto his opening 68, and by five from Paul Casey, rookie Jamie Elson from England and Spaniard José Manuel Lara.
It was in 2000 that Harrington returned a 64 in the third round but he was then disqualified when it was discovered he had not signed his first round scorecard. As a result, his eight under par round did not count as a record.
He said: “It did cross my mind that I could equal that 64 and make sure of the course record when I eagled the third (his 12th hole). But to be honest there are not too many birdies chances when you get beyond the third.”
Harrington’s opportunity evaporated completely when he drove into the water at the eighth and ran up his double bogey six. He had earlier dropped a shot at the 12th and admitted: “My bad shots were more mental errors than anything else. Then again, you have to expect to make some mistakes in a round of golf. That’s the way it is.”
Cabrera, who secured his first victory on European soil in the corresponding tournament last year, made a blistering start to his second round. Beginning at the tenth, he birdied four successive holes from the 14th to close the gap on Harrington, but a bogey at the sixth was his only blemish.
He said: “I still like my chances. I played solidly on my front nine but not so good on the back nine. I don’t feel too sure about my swing at the moment but I’ve been talking to my coach to try to sort it out.”
Lara, whose best performance was ninth in the 2001 Madeira Island Open, made rapid strides up the leaderboard with a four under par 68 for 140, while Casey and Elson both kept pace with the leaders by following up 71s with rounds of 69.
Past champion Colin Montgomerie double bogeyed the ninth – his last hole – to finish on 142 after a round of 70 while another former winner, Sandy Lyle, rolled back the years with a vintage round of 67 to share that mark with his fellow Scot and a group of players including another former champion, Bernhard Langer (71-71).
Among the list of notable absentees over the weekend are Darren Clarke, Nick Faldo, José Maria Olazábal and Ian Woosnam, who all missed the cut.
