Otto claims three-stroke lead

bruced
August 29, 2014

Hennie Otto has a three-stroke lead at the halfway stage of the Italian Open after carding a second 62 in Turin on Friday.

The South African’s round would have been a course record at the Circolo Golf Torino but for placement being allowed on the fairways and included nine birdies, an eagle and a solitary bogey to reach 15-under par.

The 38-year-old takes a commanding lead into the third round, with Austria’s Bernd Wiesberger his closest challenger after finishing on 12-under thanks to a second round 66.

England’s Ross Fisher is in third place after carding a 66 as well, another three strokes further back on nine-under.

Francesco Molinari, who shared the lead with Wiesberger after the first round, fell away on Friday and lies nine shots off the lead at six-under after notching a 72 on the day.

“It’s always special to shoot a 62 but a 59 never even crossed my mind,” Otto told the European Tour’s official website after the round.

“I didn’t really think about my score until my caddie said if I made par on 17 we would have been on course for a ten under par round.”

“I really played well, hit some good shots and the greens were running well so you were able to make some putts.

“Something about courses in Italy suits my eye and it would be great to win the tournament. Hopefully I can keep it up and keep going over the weekend.”

Five players are tied for fourth place on eight-under-par.

They are Rafa Cabrero-Bello (63), James Morrison (66) David Lipsky (67), Morten Madsen (68) and Richie Ramsay (69).

On seven-under and in a tie for ninth place are seven more players, including Stephen Gallacher (65), Soren Hansen (66) and Mikko Korhonen (67).