A short game, described by his playing partner and tournament host Bernhard Langer as “immaculate” helped Denmark’s Søren Hansen into a one shot lead at the halfway stage of the Mercedes-Benz Championship in Cologne.
The 33 year old carded a fine second round 68 for an 11 under par total of 133 at Golf Club Gut Lärchenhof to carve himself the narrowest of advantages over England’s Lee Westwood, the first round leader after his stunning 61, but who could not quite repeat the fireworks and who had to settle for a second round 73 and a ten under par total of 134.
Two further English Simon’s – Dyson and Khan, and Langer himself shared third place on seven under par 137 after respective rounds of 71, 70 and 68. But, just as the first day had belonged to Westwood, the second day belonged to Hansen.
“Something has really clicked the last few months and I’m really enjoying my game and my golf at the moment,” said the Dane who has posted five top 20 finishes in his last seven outings including second places in both the Open de France ALSTOM and in The European Tour’s last visit to Germany back in July for The Deutsche Bank Players’ Championship of Europe in Hamburg.
“I knew it has always been in there but it is just a matter of being more consistent. The last three months I have gone out and played solid golf and if you stay patient, you are going to be rewarded.
“My putting is also definitely better. People who have been following me throughout my career say my stroke is a lot different now to the way it used to be and that my whole short game is a lot sharper. My wedge play is better and when you put all three of those ingredients together, the game gets a lot easier.”
Hansen only dropped one shot in a fine second round 68 but more than made up for that elsewhere with five birdies – three on the outward nine and two on the inward half, the last of those, at the 17th indicating perfectly the improvement in his all round short game as he fired a wedge from 112 feet to ten feet from where he holed for a three.
Playing partner Langer admitted he had not seen a lot of the Dane in the past but was more than impressed by what he saw unfold in front of him in his own tournament. “He hit a lot of fantastic shots and his short game was immaculate,” said the 50 year old German who is aiming to become the oldest winner in the history of The European Tour. “I would not be surprised to see him at the top of the leaderboard at the end of the week.”
Naturally, the man the majority of the crowds at the course to the north west of Cologne want to see there on Sunday is Langer himself and the two time Masters Tournament Champion gave a strong hint that that might well be the case with another stirring showing on home soil.
Highlight of the round came in the five hole stretch between the tenth and the 14th where Langer carded four birdies and although he shed a shot at the 17th after finding a poor lie in the rough, he admitted he was happy with his two days’ work thus far.
“The wind was getting a bit stronger and in to us on the last few holes and there were tough pins as well so overall I am fairly pleased with my position in the tournament,” he said. “I am not known for giving up so I am going to try the best I can over the weekend.
“The course does favour long hitters like Søren and Lee are but there is still hope for us guys who don’t hit it as far as well. You still have to hit the drives and then hit precision iron shots. It would be great to be the oldest winner in European Tour history but there is a long way to go yet. I am behind rat this stage so I need to play flawless golf at the weekend.”
Second placed Westwood admitted a head cold and a restless night’s sleep had left him a little off balance his second round 73, a rollercoaster round which featured a superb run of birdie-birdie-eagle at the fifth, sixth and seventh, but, conversely, a run of four dropped shots in the last eight holes in an inward half of 40.
“I took some decongestant last night and it sent my head into a spin so I think I’ll leave off that tonight,” he said. “All in all I didn’t play too badly but if I was being honest I didn’t hit enough fairways although I did actually play the holes well that I did hit the fairways on. You have to do that round here because the rough is quite severe.
“But I didn’t think I played as badly as a 73, I didn’t think I got much out of my round today other than the chip in on the seventh for my eagle. It was just one of those days and it is always difficult to follow up a 61.
“They are tucking the flags away here this week but so they should be. We are supposed to be the best players in Europe and we should be tested, it brings the best players to the top. As for tomorrow, I think I should go out and try and play like yesterday and not today. Just try and hit as many fairways as I can. It is not a bad position to be in going into the weekend, ten under par and one behind.”
The quality of the elite 78 man field assembled in Germany this week is perfectly illustrated by the seven players who share sixth place on six under par going into the weekend.
They feature two Major Champions in John Daly and Paul Lawrie, eight time European Tour Order of Merit winner Colin Montgomerie, European Ryder Cup players Thomas Björn, Niclas Fasth and Miguel Angel Jiménez, and two time winner on The 2007 European Tour International Schedule, Mikko Ilonen.
It promises to be an enthralling weekend’s action.
