2023 Europe Ryder Cup stars performed brillantly on day two at the Earth Course
Due to the heavy rain the Earth course was extremely soft for the second round. The professional golfers love a soft golf course as they can make plenty of birdies. 2023 FedEx Cup champion Viktor Hovland yet again impressed on day two with a round of 66. The Norwegian holed some great putts which included a long-range effort for birdie at the eight hole. Hovland’s chipping used to be a weakness but has now become a strength due to putting in a lot of hard work over the last couple of months. Hovland is in fantastic form and it will take a lot to beat him over the weekend.
Masters champion Jon Rahm had a slow start but bounced back on day two. Rahm’s iron play was back to his best today especially when he hit an extraordinary second shot from 194 yards at the par five 18th hole and tapped in a eagle putt from three feet. Rahm started on the 10th hole and was seven under for 12 holes. He continued to create chances in his round but failed to capitalize especially with only a par at the par five seventh. Rahm had an 18 foot putt for birdie at his final hole but ended up with a disappointing bogey. Rahm is on six under at the halfway stage after shooting a second round of 66.
Nicolai Hojgaard was tied for the lead on five under after day one. The Danish star started his second round slowly as he was two over after four holes. Hojgaard did well to get it back to level par after nine holes. Hojgaard was flawless on the back nine with four birdies and a extraordinary eagle at the 18th hole. Hojgaard has a two-shot lead at the top of the leaderboard going into the weekend.
Tommy Fleetwood has made the most birdies 14 in two rounds of this years DP World Tour Championship. Today was Fleetwood’s 17th round in the 60s since 2017 at the Earth Course. Fleetwood is one of the best ball strikers in the world and his swing is fantastic. As good as Fleetwood’s swing is sometimes he doesn’t hole his fair share on the greens but his putter has behaved so far this week. Fleetwood is also on nine under and two behind Hojgaard going into the weekend.
Tyrrell Hatton opened up with a two under but played down his first round with negative comments. Hatton made two great putts at the end of the front nine for birdie. Hatton got on a role midway through his back nine with birdies at the 13th and 14th hole. Hatton shot a impressive third round of 67 to leave himself four behind going into the weekend. Hatton has a great swing and if he continues to hole putts watch out for him over the weekend.
Robert MacIntyre started his second round brillantly but dropped a couple of shots at the end of his front nine. MacIntyre hit an sensational second shot from the right and held a great putt for birdie at the par four 10th hole. It’s great the way MacIntyre plays as he goes for everything and very rarely plays a conservative shot. MacIntyre shot a second round of 68 and is on seven under at the halfway stage.
Shane Lowry shot a second round of 67. Lowry holed a fantastic shot out of the bunker for an eagle at the seventh hole. The Offaly man also held a couple of long-range putts for birdie. Lowry is six behind with two rounds to go.
Sepp Straka bounced back on day two as he shot 68. After five holes of the first round Matt Fitzpatrick was five over but has rallied and is now two under. Rory McIlroy has struggled so far with rounds of 71 and 72. McIlroy is 10 shots behind but is more than capable of shooting a low score over the weekend.
Other Europeans that are up there is Denmark’s Thorbjorn Olesen is on seven under and has continued his great form from South Africa. French golf is on the rise as Antoine Rozner, Matthieu Pavon and Julien Guerrier are all in the top 10. Between Nicolai and Rasmus Hojgaard shot a combined back nine of 61 shots. Germany’s Yannik Paul shot a second round of 65 but a disappointing three over second round for Poland’s Adrian Meronk.