Calum Hill (-16) has broken the Bapco Energies Bahrain Championship after delivering a card of 61 strokes in the second round of the tournament. He has made eleven under par. With eleven birdies and seven pars. Incredible. The Scotsman has let loose and put some distance in between. Nothing better to explain it than the numbers. The German Freddy Schott (-12), who was tied for the lead with Alejandro del Rey after the first round, delivered a more than notable card of 67 strokes this morning and is four off the lead. Meanwhile, Del Rey, who already put on a phenomenal display yesterday with 65 strokes, would have to make nine less today (playing in the afternoon session) just to tie with Hill.
The damage is significant, to the point that the third-placed player is already eight strokes behind, depending, of course, on what those who have not yet finished playing do this afternoon. Be that as it may, there is no doubt that Hill has become the man to watch at the Montgomerie course of the Royal Golf Club in Bahrain. His performance today has been masterful. What he has done speaks for itself, but how he has done it is even more impressive.
Of the eleven birdies he has achieved, eight have been with putts of two metres or less. Really, he only made one good putt of about 10 metres, while the other two longer ones were five and four metres. Not bad, but not enough to make you gasp. Simply, Hill has played golf like the one who invented it.
Obviously, he has become the favourite to win, although he must be careful in case the ghost of Brandon Robinson Thompson appears on Saturday and Sunday. The English golfer did something similar last year. He started Thursday with a round of 61 strokes, a clear leader, and the next day he made 75 and lost all the margin he had. Not only did he not win, but he almost dropped out of the top 10. The difference between Robinson Thompson and Hill is that the Scotsman already has two victories on the DP World Tour, while the Englishman has yet to open his account.
As for the Spaniards who played this morning, under perfect conditions until the last hour and a half of play when the wind picked up a bit, Iván Cantero (-3) and Eugenio Chacarra (-3) have managed to secure the cut. The Asturian did it with a superb birdie on his last hole. He hit a shot that almost went in for eagle. Sensational. Chacarra, on the other hand, sorted it out one hole earlier, on his penultimate of the day, sinking a spectacular putt of about ten metres. That put him at -3, which is a lifeline for playing the weekend. However, 13 strokes off the lead. A world away.
Worse news for Ángel Ayora (-2), Sebas García Rodríguez (PAR), Pablo Larrazábal (PAR) and Ángel Hidalgo (+2). The first still has some chance of making the cut, although it looks very unlikely. There needs to be a lot of wind in the afternoon for the -2 to have a chance of getting in. The golfer from Manilva has fought hard, but two errors on the back nine, with shots from good positions that went long of the green, have put him against the ropes. It’s important to value, however, the round of 67 strokes that Sebas signed today. It won’t be enough to make the cut, but it will help him gain confidence for future events like the Qatar Masters.
