Dean Burmester kept his challenge alive with a three-under-par 69 on Friday in the second round of the European Tour’s Tenerife Open, leaving him in a share of seventh place heading into the weekend.
There weren’t as many birdies for Burmester in his second round as the nine he picked up in his opening 63, but he did pick up four, dropping just a single shot as he set himself up five shots off the lead held by German Nicolai von Dellinghausen, who carded a stunning nine-under 62. Together with his opening 64, that put him three shots clear of Pep Angles of Spain.
For Burmester, dialling back his distance off the tee didn’t give him more accuracy in the second round, and, with four more putts in his second round than the 23 he had in the first, he would be able to pinpoint the fact that being aggressive on the course may well play into his hands.
It was not a good day for Garrick Higgo, despite the fact that he managed to sign for a one-under 70. That saw him slip to a share of 16th – not out of it at nine-under and seven shots back, but with a good round to recover in the third being the order of the day. He made a triple-bogey seven on the 15th, and followed that with a bogey on the par-three 16th. Together with the two bogeys he made on his opening nine, it was an uncharacteristically sloppy round from someone who is normally very precise.
Higgo was one behind Louis de Jager, who signed for his second successive 66 to be in a share of 11th. Justin Harding added a 69 to his opening 66, and was in a share of 28th, two behind Higgo. Joining Harding on seven-under was Zander Lombard, who had the best second round of the South Africans with his seven-under 64.
Also making the cut were Haydn Porteous – his second cut in nine starts this season – after he carded a one-under 70 to move to four-under for the tournament, and Justin Walters, who also signed for 70 in the second round to make the cut on the number at four-under.