McLeary in touch as Edberg grabs share of lead

By The Newsroom
Published 15th May 2010, 02:21 BST
Updated 15th May 2010, 02:23 BST
SWEDEN'S Pelle Edberg was in a league of his own with a second-round 64 at the European Tour event in cold and windy Majorca yesterday.

It brought him into the joint lead with South African James Kingston, who was able to add only a level-par 70 to his pacesetting opening 65.

They were three clear of the field at the halfway stage of the Iberdrola Open Cala Millor Mallorca, Welshman Stuart Manley's 68 bringing him into a tie for third on two under with Spaniards Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano and Alejandro Canizares. Six months after losing his Tour card and then failing to win it back at the qualifying school, Edberg has had only limited opportunities on the circuit this season.

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But the 31-year-old known for his colourful headbands has already recorded one top-ten finish and now a first victory is in his sights at Pula after the joint lowest round of his career.

Edberg, out in 32 before picking up further shots on the fifth, sixth and eighth, was on the last fairway when a thunderstorm halted play for over two hours. "I had 165 metres to the pin on the ninth and was practising with a seven-iron, but when I got back on the course after the delay it was a soft nine-iron," he said. "It was crazy. Even that pitched by the hole and finished 15 metres behind. I didn't expect 64, but I played really well tee-to-green and gave myself opportunities."

On the resumption the temperature had dropped markedly and the wind created havoc on some holes.

Ireland's Gary Murphy was tied for third at three under, but double-bogeyed the eighth and 11th holes and then triple-bogeyed the next. When he dropped three more in the last two holes Murphy handed in a 79 and was heading out. By then Ryder Cup Dane Soren Hansen, at 50th in the world the highest-ranked player in the field, had already crashed out of his first tournament since The Masters after collapsing to a ten-over-par 80.

At the end of the day only seven players were under par, England's Andrew Marshall and Scot Jamie McLeary both scoring 69 to stand one under. "The course has become a monster. It's brutal out there," said Marshall. Joining McLeary in the top ten with two rounds to go is Steven O'Hara (69) on one-over, while Callum Macaulay (70) and George Murray (73) also looked set to make the cut on four-over and six-over respectively.

However, Scott Drummond (74) and Andrew McArthur (76) were poised for an early exit on seven-over, as was Eric Ramsay, who had a 75 for 11-over. Andrew Coltart, who was eight-over at the time, retired with two holes to play.

• Yesterday's play at the Valero Texas Open was cancelled because of heavy rain and a tornado warning. The second round is now slated to begin at 7.10am local time today. On Thursday Matt Jones carded a course-record six-under-par 66 to take a one-shot lead from American Paul Stankowski.