Cabrera-Bello holds the edge
Spain’s Rafael Cabrera-Bello will take a narrow one-shot lead into the weekend at the BMW International Open.
The 31-year-old added a second-round 67 to his opening 65 at Golfclub Munchen Eichenried to claim the halfway lead on 12 under par.
He lies one stroke clear of England’s James Morrison, and two shots ahead of Northern Ireland’s Michael Hoey and Lasse Jensen of Denmark.
Cabrera-Bello has been knocking on the door in recent weeks, missing out on a play-off at the Irish Open after bogeying the 72nd hole. He also has has several other recent top 10 finishes.
“On some occasions I have been a little unfortunate, other occasions the competition is very hard and other people have just outplayed me and other times I have made some mistakes which I have learned from,” he said.
“Hopefully I put the pieces together this week; we will see.”
On Friday, Cabrera-Bello picked up four birdies before the turn and two more immediately after, though he could only play his final seven holes in one over.
“I am pleased with the score but I do feel like it could have been a little better, especially after being 13 under with seven holes to play,” he added.
“I did not play so good the last few holes, made a few sloppy swings, but nothing really to worry about and I just take it that I got my chances early in the round and made the mistakes at the end. That’s the way it goes sometimes.
“There are tons of great players here all trying to take the trophy home so I am going to try to keep playing aggressive. If it comes to the point where I need to play a little smarter I will try to do that.”
Morrison shot a 66 to reach 11 under. He birdied three of his last four holes. The Englishman is still riding high after his victory at the Open de Espana last month.
“It’s definitely a big advantage,” Morrison said. “Those feelings (of winning) are pretty new and still there. I am playing well and looking forward to it. It’s a low-scoring course and you have to keep making birdies.”
World No 7 Henrik Stenson, the top-ranked player in the field, is six shots back after adding a 71 to his opening 67.
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