Fans at the ACCIONA Open de España presented by Madrid were treated to a spectacular second day on which, once again, scoring was easier in the morning session than the afternoon. The former provided Dutch player Will Besseling with a stage to produce one of the rounds of the day with a 65 to add to his 64 from round one (-13) and earn him the lead on his own. Not even the best player in the world could match him.
The lowest round-two score, though, belonged to the Indian Shubhankar Sharma and home player Adri Arnaus, who proved he still knows his way around the Club de Campo Villa de Madrid course with a -7 in which blemishes were notable by their absence; seven birdies and not a single bogey.
The afternoon session would provide the answer to a number of questions, starting with how first-round leader Ross McGowan would respond, and if Jon Rahm would be able to take the lead before the weekend. The Englishman started as he left off yesterday, with three birdies in his first four holes, but he was unable to keep his streak going and a triple bogey on the 6th (his fifteenth), meant that he fell from the top of the leaderboard. However, he will still tee off just two shots adrift of Besseling tomorrow.
For his part, Jon Rahm struggled much more than he had on day one and his front nine was far quieter, with just two birdies and seven pars. However, just as he did in round one, the Spaniard produced a stunning eagle on the 14th.
A poor shot on the 16th led to his only bogey of the day, but he bounced back with a great birdie on the final hole, much to the delight of the thousands surrounding the green.
“I struggled much more than yesterday, but it wasn’t a disaster either. I played quite tidily apart from the odd mistake, but today I didn’t hole as many putts. Obviously, I’d like to be 5 or 6 shots ahead, but I’m not in a bad position by any means. Playing in the final group is always positive and I hope to keep playing well and putt a little better.”
On Saturday, Rahm will share the final group with Will Besseling and Adri Arnaus, they tee off at 13:05.
The cut eventually settled at -3, meaning 80 players are through to the weekend, including 12 of the 19 Spaniards that started the tournament. Worthy of a special mention are amateur player David Puig and Jacobo Pastor, as they both made their first cut on the European Tour.
The third round gets underway at 08:33 on Saturday, with players teeing off in groups of three from the first tee. There is still plenty of thrilling golf left to watch at this year’s ACCIONA Open de España presented by Madrid.
