Englishman James Heath is spearheading the European challenge at the halfway stage of the Panama Masters, the 21 year old having carded a second round 69 to move to six under par and trail the USA’s Kevin Haefner by two strokes at the Summit Golf and Resort.
Denmark’s Soren Hansen and Sean Whiffin of England share third place after respective second round scores of 68 and 71 took them to four under par, while Carlos Del Corral of Spain, the English duo of David Dixon and James Hepworth, Mark Pilkington of Wales and Germany’s Erol Simsek all played their part in displaying the strength in depth of the European Challenge Tour as they moved to three under at this joint sanctioned event with the Tour de las Americas (TLA).
Heath, whose golfing development has been overseen by six time Major Championship winner Nick Faldo of England, produced an excellent birdie-birdie finish to stay in touch with Haefner at the top of the leaderboard, with the American posting the best score of the tournament so far, a five under par 66, to assume the outright lead.
After some disappointing finishes in recent rounds, Heath was more than happy to end his second round with two successive birdies.
“I was thinking about my finish today because over my last few rounds of golf my finish hasn’t been good, so I tried extra hard today,” said Heath. “I got that little bit of extra energy right at the end so I am pleased.
“I was a little bit scrappy today, to be honest and it wasn’t as good as my first round. It was a little bit windier today for me so my rhythm wasn’t quite as good as it was yesterday. In the last four holes I finished well. I made a couple of good putts on fifteen and sixteen, so I was pleased.
“I hit a lot of good shots to be fair, and a made a few good up-and-downs, which I am happy with because recently my short game Hasn’t been what it should be. After two months of not playing golf back in England the short game goes a little rusty but I was pleased with it today.
“I hit a good wedge shot on the 17th to about ten feet and made the birdie putt and then on the last I was about a foot away from out of bounds, chipped out and then got up and down from 180 yards to make the birdie.”
Haefner, one of seven players that began the second round a stroke behind the English trio of Heath, Whiffin and Iain Pyman, birdied three of his last five holes thanks to some excellent approach play to haul himself into the lead. The American has fond memories of the 6823 yard par 71 Summit Golf and Resort having registered his best finish at a TLA event (11th) here last season.
“I am very pleased,” said the 25 year old. “I just wanted to keep it going, fairways and greens. I hit my wedges really good today and I putted well again. I’m excited about the way I’m playing right now. I like it here. I like the warm weather and I feel comfortable here for some reason.”
