The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Canter one to catch in Italian Open
England’ s Laurie Canter says he will need to keep the birdies coming in order to convert his halfway lead at the Italian Open into a maiden European Tour title.
The 30-year-old, who has spent the majority of his decade in the professional ranks on minor tours and made a fourth successful trip to the European Tour’s qualifying school in November on his ninth visit, added a second-round 68 to his spectacular opening 60 at Chervo Golf Club.
At 16 under, he leads by two from compatriot Ross McGowan, with South Africa’s Dean Burmester two shots further back in third.
Marc Warren and Scott Jamieson lead the Scottish challenge.
The pair lie nine shots behind the leader on seven under after rounds of 68 and 69 respectively.
Perth’s Daniel Young had a 70 to finish at six under, with the projected cut expected to fall at four under.
“More of definitely
Canter said. the same, tomorrow ,”
“You can’t take your foot off around here, the scoring is going to be good, a lot of good players behind.
“I’ve got to go out and do what I’m doing and hopefully give myself a chance on Sunday.”
Canter got off to a flying start on a gloomy day in Brescia.
He fired to six feet at the second to set up a birdie and converted from 10 and five feet at the next two holes to complete a hattrick of gains.
Another birdie at the ninth looked like setting up Canter to establish a commanding lead, but after a poor tee shot at the 11th led to a bogey, he lost his momentum before birdieing the last.
McGowan almost qualified for Europe’s 2010 Ryder Cup side after an impressive 2009 season but lost his card in 2011 and has struggled to return to the top tier since.
He reeled o ff eight birdies in a flawless 64, with Burmester signing for a 68.
Denmark’s Joachim B Hansen sits fourth on 11 under, with Adrian Otaegui and France’s Robin Roussel a shot further back.
Leading scores (Gbr & Irl unless stated, one player left on the course) 128 Laurie Canter 60 68
130 Ross McGowan 66 64
132 Dean Burmester (Rsa) 64 68 133 Joachim B. Hansen (Den) 64 69 134 Robin Roussel (Fra) 66 68, Nicolai Hojgaard (Den) 67 67, Adrian Otaegui (Spa) 67 67
135 Adri Arnaus (Spa) 65 70, Richard Bland 65 70, Matthieu Pavon (Fra) 70 65, Sebastian Heisele (Ger) 68 67,
Nicolas Colsaerts (Bel) 68 67, Martin Kaymer (Ger) 69 66, Tapio Pulkkanen (Fin) 67 68, Darius Van Driel (Ned) 71 64, Jonathan Caldwell 67 68, Bernd Wiesberger (Aut) 67 68
Other scores included:
136 Matt Wallace 68 68, Lorenzo Scalise (Ita) 67 69, Kristoffer Reitan (Nor) 66 70, Joost Luiten (Ned) 70 66, Damien Perrier (Fra) 65 71, David Horsey 69 67, Oscar Lengden (Swe) 65 71, Chris Paisley 69 67, Emilio
Cuartero Blanco (Spa) 68 68, Wil Besseling (Ned) 65 71, Yi-Keun Chang (Kor) 70 66, Dave Coupland 69 67, Louis De Jager (Rsa) 68 68
137 Scott Jamieson 68 69, Marc Warren 69 68
138 Daniel Young 68 70
139 Lee Westwood 72 67
141 Liam Johnston 69 72, David Drysdale 69 72, Victor Perez (Fra) 67 74
144 Craig Howie 76 68.