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Frenchman Alexander Levy will head into the final round of the weather-hit Portugal Masters with a three-stroke lead after Belgian Nicolas Colsaerts could not make up any ground at the Oceanico Victoria in Vilamoura yesterday. |
The tournament had already been reduced to 54 holes after heavy rain and thunderstorms had caused lengthy delays.
Levy had been one of only six players to be able to complete his second round on Friday, getting into the clubhouse with a 61 to sit 18-under.
Although Belgian Colsaerts - who had shot 60 on Thursday - still had two holes left to try to close the gap when play was able to resume, he could only return pars on the eighth and ninth to card a 67.
Colsaerts is second on 15 under, with Chile’s Felipe Aguilar at 13 under.
Aguilar had sunk a birdie at the 18th and then again on the first, picking up two more stokes on the third and fourth.
However, following another suspension due to the threat of lightning, a bogie on the seventh saw him come home at 64.
Englishman Richard Bland is one of several players seven shots back, tied for fourth place on 11 under.
Colsaerts is hoping he can reel Levy in on the final day.
He said: “As I showed yesterday and today, if you get off rhythm a little bit and you don’t fully take advantage of the course, others will make up ground.
“Sunday will unfold and we will see what happens.’’
Laird starts PGA Tour season strongly after 7 weeks off
Martin Laird, revived by a seven week break, surged into a one-stroke lead over South Korean Bae Sang-Moon and American Zachary Blair after the second round of the Frys.com Open in Napa, California on Friday.
Scot Laird had a frustrating 2013-14 season, finishing 127th in the FedEx Cup rankings, but some decent late season form gave him belief that he was on the right track, not that he could be certain until he got back into the heat of competition.
“You never know how you’re going to play after seven weeks off. To put back-to-back 67s up, I’m very happy,” Laird told PGATour.com after posting a 10-under-par 134 halfway score at Silverado Country Club north of San Francisco in the opening event of the season.
Bae (69) and tour rookie Blair (66) were on nine-under, while American Mark Hubbard (65) was in a group of three players trailing by two shots after making a hole-in-one at the par-three seventh, his 16th hole, on just his third tour start.
Laird, 27, is a three-time PGA Tour winner but admitted his attitude had not been the greatest last season.
“Last year was a grind,” he said. “A couple of bad shots and my confidence would go or frustration would come in.
“It’s awfully refreshing to be actually enjoying it and looking forward to the last two rounds rather than worrying about what might be coming.”
