Ireland’s Simon Thornton will head into the weekend at the Italian Open in Turin as one of three joint-leaders after a 67 moved him to nine under par on Friday.
After a bogey at the 17th, it looked like the Newcastle resident would have to settle for a place alongside compatriot David Higgins, whose 69 earlier in the day saw him assume the clubhouse lead on eight under for a short time. However, Thornton managed to dig out a birdie at the last to move alongside leaders Felipe Aguilar (66) of Chile and Italian Francesco Molinari (67).
The bogey at the par-four 17th was the only blot on Thornton’s impressive card after he turned in 33 thanks to birdies at one, two and seven, before he picked up shots at the 10th, 13th and last.
Forty-year-old Kerryman Higgins, who has just one top-three finish to his name in more than 200 European Tour events, posted a halfway total of 136 that left with Belgium’s Nicolas Colsaerts (71) and England’s Steve Webster (69) for company.
The world number 684 said: “I didn’t hit it as close as yesterday but if you keep hitting the fairways on this course you can manage it and get a lot of opportunities and I am good at doing that. This is a good course for me, if I play well I have a good chance. A lot of the other courses are very long and I am trying to hit it over corners, but this one is about hitting it down the middle all day long and I’m good at that.”
A 69 left Damien McGrane in contention on four under, but Peter Lawrie missed the cut after a one-under 71 left him just shy of the mark on level par. Gareth Maybin also bowed out after a 71 left him one over, while Michael Hoey finished two over after a second round of 69.
Turin native and joint-leader Molinari delighted the crowds that turned out to watch him on his home course when he carded his 67 at Golf Club Torino.
The 30-year-old has been the centre of attention all week as he bids to claim his national open for the second time, but said: “It adds a little bit of pressure but it’s good, it gives you an extra motivation to do well and get focused for 18 holes.
“I said at the beginning of the week I didn’t want to think of anything but try to enjoy the week, try to make some birdies and I’ll try to do the same Saturday and Sunday. It doesn’t really matter that I won before, this is a special, special week for me. I was emotional yesterday on the 10th tee at 8am with only 50 people watching so now with all these people on my course it’s a great feeling.
“It has been brilliant so far so let’s hope it continues to stay that way over the weekend. You have to embrace it, have fun; I smile on the course when I see people I know and I know they are rooting for me so I just try to enjoy it.”
Colsaerts had looked set to at least maintain his overnight share of the lead but bogeyed the 16th and 18th — where he duffed a chip — to return a 71.
“It’s always tough to follow a day of prime striking,” said Colsaerts, who shot 65 on Thursday. “I missed only one green yesterday and everything was going my way pretty much. Then I started with a bogey today with a seven iron in my hand so that doesn’t really get you in the greatest of moods.”
Former European number one Retief Goosen had earlier continued to impress on his return from a four-month injury lay-off as fellow veteran Jose Maria Olazabal moved into contention for a first win since 2005.
Two-time US Open champion Goosen withdrew from the Players Championship at Sawgrass in May with a back injury, which turned out to be a stress fracture.
The 44-year-old admitted he had no idea where the ball was going to go ahead of his competitive return, revealing he lost four balls in a practice round on Tuesday. But after exceeding his own expectations with an opening round of 70, the South African added a second round of 72 in Turin to finish two under par and safely make the halfway cut.
Former Ryder Cup captain Olazabal, whose last European Tour win came in the Mallorca Classic eight years ago, was faring even better after adding a 68 to his opening 71 to lie five under par.
The 47-year-old said: “Yesterday was a battling day, I didn’t hit the ball well at all and just managed to get my way in with a decent score. Today I hit the ball a little better. I still made a few mistakes but it was a better day.”
