Frenchman Lionel Weber climbed closer to a maiden MENA Tour victory in moving four shots clear of the field heading to the final roudn of the Mountain Creek Open by Golf Citizen in Thailand.
Weber carded a sparkling second round 67 that included seven birdies and with just two bogeys for an 11-under tally on the Seve Ballesteros-designed course on Tuesday.
England’s Luke Joy carded a bogey-free 68 to be in second place on seven under while Switzerland’s Dubai-based amateur Michael Harradine stayed in the frame, sharing third with Thailand’s Pattaraphol Khanthacha on six under as Blake Snyder of the United States occupied solo fifth a further a shot adrift, one ahead of Scotland’s James Byrne.
However all focus was on Webber and using Callaway equipment as he seeks that breakthrough MENA victory
Loinel Weber leads by four in Mountain Creek OPen
“I feel my game is in great shape. Although I hear some players have lost many balls, I am still playing with the same lucky one. The course is pretty tricky and you need to shape the ball a lot — and I did that,” said the Frenchman, who finished in a tie for seventh at last week’s MahaSamutre Masters after hitting the front on the opening day.
“Also, you need to focus on every shot. It always feels good to be in Thailand as it’s a great place to play golf,” said Weber, who is attached to Banyan Golf Club.
England’s Joy, a two-time winner on the MENA Tour, has given himself another shot at the title, keeping it clean in the second round.
“It’s a course where you have to be very patient. It’s quite fiddly. It goes from fairway to jungle and there is not much in-between. I actually lost my ball on Monday as we were playing in fading light after a thunderstorm forced suspension of play.
“I played quite steady today and going bogey-free always feels good. This is a course you do not want to overpower yourself. In fact, I have used my driver just three times,” said the talented Englishman.
Harradine, a 33-year- old Swiss national team representative, carded another three red numbers on Tuesday against just one bogey to extend his lead over his nearest challenger Rayhan Thomas in the amateur division.
Young prodigy Thomas, who is supported by the Shaikh Maktoum Golf Foundation, made the turn at two-under, but dropped four shots in a four-hole stretch from 11th before making gains on the 16th and 17th that left him in a tie for 14th at one-under — and four behind Harradine.
Elsewhere, last week’s winner Jazz Janewattananond of Thailand and defending champion Wolmer Murillo of Venezuela were tied for 10 th on two-under, one behind a three-man group which included Czech Republic’s Cyril Suk, the winner of the 2014 Shaikh Maktoum Dubai Open.
England’s Zane Scotland (10 over), Clarke Lutton of Scotland (eight over), Leo Lilja of Spain (11 over) and cricketer-turned- golfer Craig Kieswetter (14 over) were among the notables who missed the cut, made at five-over 149.
