Nearly two years after going within a stroke of making the British Open play-off at Turnberry and England’s Chris Wood is again on the verge of victory after moving three shots clear of the field on day two of the Iberdrola Open in Majorca.
Chris Wood speaks to waiting media after moving three clear of the field
Wood, 23 grabbed six birdies in a five-under par 65 to move to eight under par on the demanding Pula course.
He leads Northern Ireland’s Darren Clarke and Manchester rookie Matthew Nixon with both shooting level par 70s.
In his first event of the 2011 Race to Dubai schedule Wood lost a Africa Open play-off to reigning Open Champion, Louis Oosthuizen.
“Hopefully, I can win this week but it will happen when it happens,” said Wood.
“All I can do is put myself in these positions, and the more times you do it, the more chance you have of winning.”
Clarke was 143-yards out with a 9-iron in his hand but the wind dropped immediately he played the shot sending his ball through the green from where he took double.
But in contrast to his all-black attire, Clarke retained his composure, and while also dropping a shot at nine, he clawed his way back up the board with birdies at 10, 11, 14 and 15.
“I was three over after nine holes so to get it back to one under for the day with three to play was pretty good,” he said.
“So I am pretty pleased, five under going into the weekend. There is still two rounds to go but anytime you get into contention it is great. I was in contention this year in Bahrain but had a bad final round but after working so hard then having the last three weeks off, it’s nice to come back out and be in contention straight away.
Darren Clarke looking to end a three-year victory drought.
“This is why we are all out here, to compete and give ourselves chances to win as often this possible.
“Hopefully I can do that this weekend but I’ll have to play smart and try to avoid short-siding myself.”
Frenchman Thomas Levet, who matched Wood with a 65, shared fourth place on four under par with England’s David Lynn (68).
Just 19 players managed to break par on the Jose Maria Olazabal redesigned course.
However the double Augusta National winning Olazabal will play all four rounds after his second round of 69 for a level par tally.
The four over par cut off mark is the highest on the 2011 Race to Dubai.
