Tom McKibbin carded a four-under 67 and moved to -7, but Joaquín Niemann will take a two-stroke lead into the weekend of the DS Automobiles 83° Open d’Italia after a flawless second round at Circolo Golf Torino.
The Holywood man made five birdies in total – three on the front and two on the back – with a lone dropped shot coming on six and he moved into a share of 18th at the halfway mark though he finds himself eight shots behind fellow LIV Golf man Niemann.
The Chilean, who began Friday one shot off the pace, carded a bogey-free 63 to reach 15 under par and move to the top of the leaderboard after 36 holes in Turin.
Opening his round on the tenth tee, the 27-year-old had to settle for even par across his first six holes before a birdie at the 16th sparked a run of three. He capitalised on the momentum with an eagle at the 1st, while further gains at the 4th, 7th and 9th moved him clear of chaser Ángel Ayora.
The Spaniard, playing alongside compatriot Eugenio Chacarra and Ryder Cup Captain Luke Donald, followed up an opening round 66 with a 63 of his own, impressing with seven birdies, an eagle and just one bogey to get to 13 under.
The 21-year-old will now tackle the weekend of Italy’s national open in pursuit of his first DP World Tour title.
The best round of the day, however, belonged to Matt Wallace. The Englishman’s ten birdies and solitary bogey saw him card a 62 and break the course record at Circolo Golf Torino – one that was only set by hometown favourite Edoardo Molinari yesterday, following an opening round 63.
The 36-year-old is now primed to take home the $40,000 prize pot, thanks to Nexo, should no player shoot lower on the weekend.
Wallace’s efforts also saw him power up the leaderboard, into a share of third alongside two-time DP World Tour winner Chacarra and France’s Tom Vaillant at 11 under, while fellow Frenchman Romain Langasque went bogey-free to finish one shot back in outright sixth.
Spanish pair Jorge Campillo and Ángel Hidalgo, France’s Frédéric Lacroix, Swede Joakim Lagergren and local Molinari round out a group at nine under par.
Elsewhere, Spaniard Pablo Larrazábal did enough to play the weekend, making his first cut since the Qatar Masters in February. The 43-year-old followed up an opening round 66 with a 72, placing him at four under for the tournament and inside the cut line, for the first time in 10 starts.
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