Donaldson leads in bid to end title drought
JAMIE Donaldson opened up a two-shot lead over nearest challenger Renato Paratore at the Nordea Masters, after recording a second consecutive round of 69.
The Welshman is eight under par going into the weekend, and he will tee off in Malmo today alongside Paratore of Italy.
English duo Max Orrin and Graeme Storm join Frenchman Benjamin Hebert at five under par, with Canadian Austin Connelly, Dane Thorbjørn Olesen and England’s Chris Wood one shot further back.
Donaldson, going in search of a fourth European Tour title and a first since the 2014 D+D REAL Czech Masters, started the day with a birdie followed by ten pars in a row including an impressive save from the fringe on the tenth.
A six-footer on the 12th saw him take advantage of the par five and when he rolled an 18-foot right-to-lefter up the hill on the next, he was in control.
A bogey followed on the 15th but he recovered from a poor teeshot on the 16th to capitalise on another par five before putting his approach to the 17th to four feet.
Joint overnight-leader Paratore recovered from a shaky start with four birdies on the way in to sign for a 72.
Donaldson said: “I played nicely. There were times when the ball wasn’t where I wanted it to be, but I made some great escapes.
“The chipping and putting has been better over the last couple of days. I have been playing quite nicely recently but just not quite putting it all together, but the first couple of days here, I’ve been able to do that.
“It’s one of those golf courses, it’s difficult, especially when the wind is up a bit. The fairways are quite narrow and it’s long so you have to be very patient around here and put your ball on the short grass if you can and play from there.
“More of the same for the weekend really. I’ve got my map of the golf course and how to play it. I don’t know what the weather is going to do tomorrow, it might be windy, it might not, so we’ll wake up and take it from there.”
Kane Williamson scored a century for New Zealand in their abandoned Champions Trophy game against Australia at Edgbaston.
The Kiwi captain top-scored as his side looked to be heading for a win before play was halted in the second innings.
Australia were 53-3 after nine overs, chasing a revised target of 235 from 33 overs, when rain intervened.
The two teams pick up a point each as England top the group after Thursday’s win over Bangladesh.