Published July 17, 2008 on April 14, 2018

Dunne Edges Ahead in Madrid

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Paul Dunne will take a three-shot lead into the weekend at the Open de España after firing a brilliant 65 on day two at Centro Nacional de Golf.

The Irishman entered the day with a share of the lead and produced nine birdies on his way to a 13 under total in the Spanish capital, and is now in an excellent position to challenge for a second European Tour title after last season’s victory at the British Masters supported by Sky Sports.

Dunne said, “It’s just one of those days. I went on playing, I wasn’t really thinking about the score, then the score kind of built on itself. It was an enjoyable day, obviously, the conditions are a lot better and we had better greens this morning than we did yesterday playing early. The score was out there and all three of us shot it.

“I think those late-early starts are good when you are playing well. When you feel good about your game the short turnaround is nice, just finish your round, a bit of dinner, straight to bed and you’re up and going again. I think I benefited from that a little bit. A bit of a longer wait now, but the game is in good shape. I’m feeling good, I feel confident around this course, so hopefully, a couple more good rounds to give myself a chance.

“I was doing a good bit of work about six weeks ago and I saw signs on the course that things were getting better in Mexico, but I didn’t play great. Then couple of weeks practice after that in America and it’s nice to see it transfer on to the golf course. I think it’s been trending the right way for a while and then I’ve got a nice run of events here in Europe over the next few weeks as well, so looking forward to that and hopefully just keep doing what I am doing.”

Home favourite Nacho Elvira, six-time European Tour winner Brett Rumford and England’s Callum Shinkwin form the chasing pack at ten under, just one shot clear of World Number Four Jon Rahm, two-time winner Robert Rock, three-time winner Marc Warren and Swede Henric Sturehed.

Local hero Rahm started with an eagle and looked to be on the charge with birdies on the fifth and 11th but he found water with his second on the 12th and surrendered a double-bogey. He bounced straight back with a birdie and picked up another shot on the last after hitting the pin.

Co-overnight leader Warren signed for a 69, turning in 37 but picking up shots on the first, fourth, fifth and seventh. Meanwhile, defending champion Andrew Johnston, German Maximilian Kieffer, Spaniard Pablo Larrazábal, Frenchman Julien Guerrier and Danes Thorbjørn Olesen and Jeff Winther were at eight under.

England’s Andy Sullivan and German Marcel Schneider fired the lowest rounds of the week, carding a pair of 63s to get to six under and five under respectively.

Round Two Scores

131 P Dunne (Irl) 66 65,
134 C Shinkwin (Eng) 67 67, B Rumford (Aus) 68 66, N Elvira (Esp) 68 66,
135 J Rahm (Esp) 67 68, R Rock (Eng) 70 65, M Warren (Sco) 66 69, H Sturehed (Swe) 67 68,
136 P Larrazábal (Esp) 71 65, T Olesen (Den) 68 68, A Johnston (Eng) 68 68, J Winther (Den) 69 67, M Kieffer (Ger) 69 67, J Guerrier (Fra) 67 69,
137 R Cho (Kor) 73 64, G Bourdy (Fra) 70 67, M Lorenzo-Vera (Fra) 69 68, J Campillo (Esp) 70 67, Y Miyazato (Jpn) 69 68, S Kim (USA) 69 68, M Fraser (Aus) 71 66, B Neil (Sco) 71 66,
138 R Sterne (RSA) 68 70, G Coetzee (RSA) 72 66, D Howell (Eng) 72 66, A Connelly (Can) 72 66, P Angles (Esp) 72 66, E Van Rooyen (RSA) 67 71, A Rai (Eng) 67 71, M Schwab (Aut) 67 71, D Burmester (RSA) 73 65, A Pavan (Ita) 71 67, N Colsaerts (Bel) 71 67, J Norris (Aus) 67 71, A Sullivan (Eng) 75 63, F Aguilar (Chi) 72 66, J Thomson (Eng) 67 71, B Stone (RSA) 71 67,
139 A Björk (Swe) 67 72, A Otaegui (Esp) 69 70, N Bertasio (Ita) 69 70, R Ramsay (Sco) 73 66, T Jaidee (Tha) 72 67, M Baldwin (Eng) 70 69, P Oriol (Esp) 68 71, C Ford (Eng) 70 69, S Han (USA) 70 69, G Green (Mas) 71 68, J Scrivener (Aus) 70 69, T Murray (Eng) 72 67, J Choi (Kor) 70 69, R Gouveia (Por) 69 70, A Cañizares (Esp) 72 67, J Kruyswijk (RSA) 69 70, S Del Val (Esp) 74 65, M Schneider (Ger) 76 63, B Dredge (Wal) 71 68, V Pastor (am) (Esp) 67 72,
140 R Paratore (Ita) 70 70, S Gallacher (Sco) 70 70, S Garcia Rodriguez (Esp) 69 71, S Gros (Fra) 73 67, D Lipsky (USA) 69 71, A Wu (Chn) 70 70, D Fichardt (RSA) 69 71, C Bezuidenhout (RSA) 69 71, P Waring (Eng) 68 72, G Storm (Eng) 70 70, H Tanihara (Jpn) 70 70, T Pulkkanen (Fin) 75 65, M Manassero (Ita) 69 71, J Dantorp (Swe) 73 67, A Wall (Eng) 70 70, T Fisher Jnr (RSA) 68 72,
141 D Drysdale (Sco) 73 68, S Jamieson (Sco) 69 72, R Cabrera Bello (Esp) 73 68, M Foster (Eng) 72 69, S Fernandez (Esp) 71 70, A Quiros (Esp) 70 71, P Widegren (Swe) 71 70, S Brown (Eng) 70 71, P Lawrie (Sco) 76 65, A Arnaus (Esp) 71 70, S Kjeldsen (Den) 69 72, E Goya (Arg) 72 69, F Zanotti (Par) 74 67, M Pavon (Fra) 73 68, S Heisele (Ger) 68 73, J Colomo (Esp) 71 70, L Gagli (Ita) 70 71,
142 C Syme (Sco) 70 72, C Hanson (Eng) 73 69, O Fisher (Eng) 72 70, M Kinhult (Swe) 73 69, J Quesne (Fra) 70 72, J Donaldson (Wal) 71 71, S Tarrio Ben (Esp) 72 70, C Blomstrand (Swe) 73 69, L Canter (Eng) 71 71, N Geyger (Chi) 73 69, E Molinari (Ita) 72 70, E Pepperell (Eng) 77 65, T Detry (Bel) 71 71, J Smith (Eng) 72 70, R Fox (Nzl) 70 72, J Heath (Eng) 71 71, B McKenzie (am) (Eng) 72 70,
143 J Sainz (Esp) 74 69, D Im (USA) 75 68, A Saddier (Fra) 71 72, S Horsfield (Eng) 69 74, N Cullen (Aus) 72 71, A Bland (Aus) 71 72, B Evans (Eng) 71 72, M Nixon (Eng) 74 69, E De La Riva (Esp) 72 71, G Fernandez – Castaño (Esp) 73 70, J Wang (Kor) 73 70, G Havret (Fra) 72 71, R Jacquelin (Fra) 71 72, A Hidalgo (am) (Esp) 72 71,
144 B Hafthorsson (Isl) 77 67, T Aiken (RSA) 75 69, C Koepka (USA) 75 69, P Khongwatmai (Tha) 76 68, A Dodt (Aus) 71 73, R Bland (Eng) 72 72,
145 R McGowan (Eng) 76 69, D Horsey (Eng) 72 73, M Wallace (Eng) 69 76, T Lewis (Eng) 72 73, A Del Rey(am) (Esp) 75 70,
146 L Jensen (Den) 74 72, M Korhonen (Fin) 76 70, A Chesters (Eng) 75 71, O Farr (Wal) 72 74, G Moynihan (Irl) 72 74, V Dubuisson (Fra) 74 72, J Lagergren (Swe) 74 72, J Morrison (Eng) 74 72, J Geary (Nzl) 74 72, N Fasth (Swe) 78 68,
147 F Fritsch (Ger) 70 77, D Brooks (Eng) 74 73, D Kataoka (Jpn) 71 76,
148 Z Lombard (RSA) 72 76, A Garcia-Heredia (Esp) 72 76, S Lee (Kor) 71 77, C Pigem (Esp) 71 77, L Slattery (Eng) 72 76,
149 C Sordet (Fra) 73 76,
150 R Karlsson (Swe) 78 72, R Evans (Eng) 70 80,
152 R McEvoy (Eng) 75 77,
157 J Gonzalez Courtney (Esp) 83 74,