August 26, 2016: As the winds picked up in Farso, Jeev Milkha Singh showed enormous control in a battling second round effort of one over 72. The 44 year old Indian golfer shot 17 pars and a sole bogey, conceding 14 spots on the leaderboard. Meanwhile, SSP Chawrasia missed the cut after making 74 on Friday. Bradley Dredge will take a three-shot lead into the weekend at the Made in Denmark after following his opening 63 with an impressive 66 in tougher conditions at Himmerland Golf & Spa Resort.
Starting on the tenth hole, Jeev conceded a bogey at the par-4 13th hole. But for that sole blemish on his card, the veteran Indian produced a steady hand through the rest of the round.
Chawrasia dropped out of the weekend after suffering five bogeys in the second round. Chawrasia also made birdies at the 8th and 17th holes, but that was not enough to survive the cut.
The Welshman has an excellent record in Farsø, finishing second in 2014 and sixth last season, and looked set to continue that trend as he got to 13 under and moved ahead of Joakim Lagergren.
The Swede – along with Thomas Pieters and Tom Lewis – had equalled the course record of 62 on day one but with far windier conditions in play, those sort of scores could not be matched on Friday.
Pieters and Lewis both remained well in contention, however, with the Belgian sitting at nine under along with South Africa’s Richard Sterne, and Lewis alongside Spain’s Adrian Otaegui a shot further back.
Dredge has two European Tour wins to his name but his last came in 2006, although in his current form he could well end that ten-year wait on Sunday afternoon.
Birdies on the second, fifth, sixth, eighth and ninth saw him move ahead and while he dropped a shot on the 13th, he made an excellent up and down on the next.
Lagergren was one over par for his round as he stood on the 12th tee but an excellent 25-foot putt on that hole, a birdie on the 14th, and a 15-foot par save on the tough last helped him to a 70.
Pieters played his first two rounds with Darren Clarke and while he showed his scoring ability on Thursday, it was his scrambling and battling that would have impressed the European Ryder Cup Captain in round two.
Bogeys on the first and third saw him slip back but he made three birdies in a row from the sixth before he three-putted the ninth. He then bounced back from a disappointing a three-putt par on the 14th with a fantastic chip to save par from a horrible lie on the 15th.
Another clever chip saved another par on the 16th – where Clarke got a rousing reception complete with European flags on Himmerland Hill – and he signed for a level par 71 following a brilliant bunker shot for a save on the last.
Sterne made two birdies and an eagle in his first six holes before bogeys came on the seventh and tenth but further gains on the 15th and 16th saw him moving in the right direction again.
Englishman Lewis battled to a 72 to get to eight under, while Otaegui eagled the sixth for the second consecutive day, adding four birdies and a bogey in a 66.
Oliver Wilson fired a 65 to get to seven under alongside local favourites Søren Kjeldsen and Jeff Winther, with South African Thomas Aiken also signing for a 67. American David Lipsky completed the group six off the lead with a 70.
Ireland’s Shane Lowry is also looking to impress Clarke and he followed a disappointing opening 75 with a 65 to sit at two under.
Edited by Anand Datla
