England’s Lee James came close to recapturing the form that made him the 2002 Challenge Tour Number One at the second round of the Peugeot Challenge R.C.G El Prat, where the Englishman carded a second consecutive round of three under par 69 to take a two shot lead form Barcelona’s own Ivo Giner, who carded a scintillating 65 at the testing Real Club de Golf El Prat in Barcelona.
James, on six under par 138 leads Spain’s Giner by two with Paraguay’s Marco Ruiz on three under after a second round 70, and Franciso Cea of Spain and the English pair of Benn Barham and Denny Lucas in a tie for fourth place on two under.
It was two seasons ago that James dominated the Challenge Tour, when he scored three victories as well as taking second place at the dual ranking Aa St Omer Open to secure his place on The 2003 European Tour. However, his rookie season at the top level was marred by an on going hand injury which took the best part of a year to fully recover from, and after a season of re-adjustment in 2004, the 32 year old feels he is ready to re-enter the Challenge Tour winners enclosure as he bids to return to The European Tour.
He is certainly going about that in the right manner in Barcelona this week with opening rounds of 69-69 to lead at the new, Greg Norman designed Real Club de Golf El Prat, which is one of the toughest courses on the 2005 Challenge Tour Schedule and the perfect training ground for those Challenge Tour players with aspirations of making in to the very top level of European golf.
James started his second round well, picking up a birdie at the second hole, but found himself falling victim to El Prat’s tough layout by giving two shots back at the seventh and eighth. He responded to that set back instantly by going on a great run of three consecutive birdies between the ninth and 11th to get back on track, picked up another stroke on the 15th and then bogeyed the 17th before finishing off his second 69 of the week with a birdie at the par five 18th.
“I played better today than yesterday,” said James. “It was a lot more solid today and I struck the ball well so I have no complaints. I think I am getting closed to the level I was playing at when I won the Challenge Tour and I have been working hard with my coach on getting back to that standard.
“After winning the Rankings in 2002 I had a bad hand injury that took me the most part of a year to recover from. As I said, I am happy with how things have gone for the first two rounds – I am swinging the club well.”
Giner was swinging his clubs, in particular his red hot putter, majestically during round two. The 27 year old made the most of his local knowledge of El Prat – where he plays most of his practice rounds when at home in Barcelona – to put together one of the outstanding rounds of the season thus far.
The solitary dropped shot on the Spaniard’s second round scorecard was rendered insignificant by a hugely impressive six birdies and an eagle over the 7070 yard par 72 terrain, and afterwards he admitted that his putting was the key to his outstanding score.
“I putted very well today – that was the key for me,” said Giner, who finished 14th on the Challenge Tour Rankings in 2003 after notching two tournament victories in the space of three glorious summer weeks two seasons ago.
“A lot of my game is based on putting, because at times I can be very insecure on the greens but today it all came together and my confidence grew as the round went on.
“Playing at home in Barcelona is great for me, and especially here at El Prat because I always try to practice here when I get the chance to come home. I think that this course is of such a high standard, and so difficult, that it is like many of the courses that are used on The European Tour, so practicing here can only be good for my game.”
Seventy seven players made the halfway cut of seven over par 151.
