The Swedish duo of Johan Edfors and Steven Jeppesen share the halfway lead of ten under par alongside South Africa’s Michael Kirk at the European Challenge Tour’s XX Tessali-Metaponto Open di Puglia e Basilicata.
All three players completed their second rounds at the Metaponto Club, with Jeppesen carding the lowest score of the day, an eight under par 64 that included and eagle, eight birdies and just two dropped shots.
Kirk got back to the clubhouse with a flawless 65, while Edfors, the 2003 Challenge Tour Number One, shot 66 to join his co-leaders on ten under 133 going into the final 36 holes.
First round leader Jan-Are Larsen of Norway is just one of the pace after one under par 70 at Riva dei Tessali, with the English pair of Ross Fisher and 2002 Challenge Tour Number One Lee James in a tie for fifth place on eight under.
Jeppesen’s excellent 64 included two huge putts from over 30 feet, one of which was for eagle on the par five seventh, the other a tremendous par save on the par four 16th at Metaponto. The 21 year old is starting to recapture the kind of form that won him a European Tour card at the 2003 Qualifying School and is growing in confidence as a result of his good form.
“It was a great day for me today,” said Jeppesen. “I played well and made two giant putts which really helped my score. I feel very comfortable on the course at Tessali and am happy that we will play the final two rounds there.
“It reminds me of Golf Platja de Pals, where I won my Tour card in 2003, so hopefully I can take confidence from that and play well over the weekend. If I play like I did at Pals a couple of years ago then I will have a chance of winning here.”
Kirk knows what it takes to win on the Challenge Tour having taken the Stambic Zambia Open title last season. The South African, with two top five finishes to his name this season, is hoping that he can marry the two most important factors required to succeed on the Challenge Tour, namely consistency and the ability to win tournaments.
“I’m hoping this I can get it right,” said Kirk. “I seemd to have a lot of top ten finishes in 2003 but just missed out on the vital win, and then last year I got the win but lacked consistency to get my card, so I’m hoping it can be third time lucky for me this year!”
The halfway cut at the XX Tessali-Metaponto Open di Puglia e Basilicata was set at two under par, with 73 players set to do battle for the €19,200 top prize.
