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Past champion leads the Porsche European Open by two shots
Photography: Getty Images
Past champion Jordan Smith will take a two-stroke lead into the weekend of the Porsche European Open as he bids to win this tournament for the second time in five years.
Jordan Smith leads Porsche European Open by two shots
The Englishman carded a four-under-par round of 68 on the notoriously difficult Porsche Nord Course, carding five birdies and dropping just one stroke on the par four third hole. The 2016 European Challenge Tour Number One captured his maiden DP World Tour title at this event during his rookie season in 2017 when he defeated Alex Levy in a play-off at Green Eagle Golf Courses. Currently ranked 13th on the DP World Tour Rankings in Partnership with Rolex, the 29-year-old has six top 20 finishes in ten starts in 2022, including runner-up results at the Ras Al Khaimah Championship presented by Phoenix Capital and MyGolfLife Open hosted by Pecanwood. “I scrambled unbelievably well. On the back nine I was getting up-and-down on most of the holes and took the chances when I had them. I’m really happy with how things have gone," said Smith. "Wednesday in the Pro-Am was probably the worst I’d hit it in a long time. To get through these two rounds and be six-under, I’m really happy." Chasing Smith is Frenchman Victor Perez, who is bidding to become the first back-to-back winner on the DP World Tour since Christiaan Bezuidenhout in 2020. Perez, who won his second title at the Dutch Open last week, carded a one-under 71 to sit in solo second place. “I’m very pleased again. I thought the course played very difficult. The pins were harder than yesterday, there was less wind but sometimes it’s still just as difficult," said Perez. "When the pin is in a tough spot it’s difficult to visualise your shot and hard to get the ball close. I was just lucky to get two birdies at the end to spring the day and make it nice. It was difficult to score." Sharing third after two rounds on three under par are Julien Brun of France, Sweden’s Joakim Lagergren and Niklas Nørgaard Møller. Li Haotong of China and Frenchman Julien Guerrier are a stroke further back on two under par.
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