Super Swede keeps cool on tricky course

David Lingmerth knows he won’t have to shoot 20-under par for the week to win at tricky TPC Potomac — but after two near-flawless rounds in the Quicken Loans National, he was halfway there.

The 29-year-old Swede shot his second straight 5-under 65 yesterday (New Zealand time) to extend his lead to two shots over Aussie Geoff Ogilvy.

Lingmerth used his reliable fade off the tee to avoid trouble and set up birdie opportunities. He has gone 34 straight holes without a bogey. His final fade of the day was possibly his best, a 6-iron from 177 yards that he held up against the wind on the parfour 18th. It finished 7 feet from the hole, leading to birdie.

“It is definitely as tough as advertised,” Lingmerth insisted. “It happens quite a bit actually that [the] two-round score ends up being pretty close to the final winning score.

“That’s not necessarily always the case. So I’m hoping to keep plugging away, making more birdies over the weekend.”

Lingmerth hit 12 of 14 fairways on Friday and 10 of 14 yesterday, and he hit all but five greens in regulation each day. His short game was sharp, too. After his approach came up short on the uphill par-three 12th, he hit a bump-and-run into a steep slope that trickled on to the green and settled inside 2 feet.

Ogilvy played in the first group off the 10th tee and also shot 65. Daniel Summerhays shot 68 and was alone in third, four shots back. Sung Kang, who shot 69 amid tougher conditions in the afternoon, was five shots back along with Arjun Atwal (67).

Kiwi Danny Lee was tied for 10th, 2-under for the day and the tournament, eight back from the lead.

Elsewhere, Spaniard Adrian Otaegui and Peter Uihlein, of the United States, shared the lead at 8-under after rain disrupted play in the second round of the French Open.

Otaegui shot a 5-under 66 after rolling in six birdies on the Golf National course that will stage the Ryder Cup next year.