While Raphaël Jacquelin blazed a trail to the top of the Open de Madrid leaderboard after a second consecutive round of seven under par 64 ensured the Frenchman a three stroke, halfway lead at the Club de Campo, most of the Spanish crowd’s cries of ‘Olé’ of were reserved for home player Ivo Giner, who crafted a stunning 11 under par 60 to reignite his hopes of victory in front of the delighted locals in the Spanish Capital.
Due to the use of preferred lies at Club de Campo, Giner’s amazing score will not officially count as a record equalling effort, but it knocked two strokes off the lowest round of the life and moved him from 109th position at the start of the second round into a tie for tenth place on seven under par.
That left him one stroke behind European Ryder Cup Captain Ian Woosnam, who posted a second round 65 to move into a share of sixth place on eight under with Scotland’s Paul Lawire, Ireland’s Damien McGrane and Englishman Graeme Storm.
One ahead of that quartet is England’s Ian Garbutt, with Portugal’s José Filipe Lima in fourth place on ten under. Northern Ireland’s Darren Clarke and England’s Gary Emerson are three behind Jacquelin on 11 under par after respective second round scores of 67 and 64.
Jacquelin’s second 64 of the week began on the tenth hole and comprised of a back nine score of 33 before playing the front side in just 31 strokes.
The 31 year old is chasing his maiden European Tour victory in Madrid, and has left himself in a fantastic position to do just that over the next 36 holes.
When Giner started his round birdie-bogey he was not expecting what followed, but three more birdies in four holes took him to the turn in 32 before racing home in just 28 with an eagle and seven birdies. He needed to birdie the last two holes for 59 but left a 14-foot attempt just short of the hole at the 385-yard eighth, his 17th, before making a 12-footer on the last.
“It’s like a dream – I’m still shaking,” said Giner, who opened the tournament with a four over par 75. “The second nine was really perfect and I don’t remember putting like that ever. It’s like being in a cloud.
“After yesterday I was thinking only about trying to make the cut. As the putts started to drop I never thought about 59 – I was just shooting for birdies.”
