Jérôme Lando Casanova posted another bogey-free round to join Julien Brun at the top of the leaderboard at the Challenge Tour Open de Bretagne, as the French duo enter the weekend dreaming of a home victory with Ireland’s leading performer, Paul McBride, some seven shots adrift.
McBride added a 69 to his opening round of 70 and finds himself in T41 position after round two in France and he is joined in the weekend rounds by Gavin Moynihan (70, 68) & Cameron Raymond (65, 75) who both made the cut on the level par mark.
Ireland’s other protagonists didn’t fare as well with Jonathan Yates (+2), Conor O’Rourke (+2), John Murphy (+6), and Robin Dawson (+9), all missing out.
Lando Casanova though has been in fine form in the first two rounds, recording a complete bogey-free tournament thus far, along with his compatriot Brun who posted a blemish-free round of 68 to move into a tie for the lead.
The pair are one stroke ahead of in-form American Chase Hanna, South African Hennie Du Plessis, Welshman David Boote and Englishman Jonathan Thomson. Lando Casanova has admitted that he is thoroughly enjoying competing on home soil and hopes to take his confidence with him into the weekend.
“I played solid golf and I stuck to my strategy,” said Lando Casanova, a Challenge Tour graduate back in 2014. “I had a couple of bad holes, but I was able to save some important pars. I like the way we have to play here; I’m feeling confident on this golf course, so I feel really good now.
“I was waiting for birdie chances from the beginning of the round, but I was maybe too far from the pin, and I had three great chances on the first, second and third holes, but I didn’t make the putts. I stayed patient on eight and nine and managed to save a par on both occasions so I’m pretty happy.
“I feel pretty confident but, here the conditions can change every day, tomorrow could be very windy. Everything can change right up until the end, so I have to take some rest this afternoon and get focused for the weekend.”
The Open de Bretagne has allowed free entry for spectators to allow golf fans the experience of watching links golf in person and fellow Frenchman Brun has said that it has been an added bonus to have crowds in Brittany.
“Yes, it’s very exciting for me,” Brun said. “The crowd was very present for me the first two days and even with the rain they followed us. We have to play, but they don’t need to be here so that was quite nice to have a little crowd.
“It’s going to be nice to play with Jérôme as he is a good friend and very good guy, and we play very well together, so we can both build a good round together.”
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