Marcus Armitage (-12) is the leader of the Ras Al Khaimah Championship after the second round with a two-shot lead over Alejandro del Rey (-10) and Daniel Brown (-10). After his 63 on Thursday, Armitage has stayed at the top of the leaderboard by signing a very valuable 69, given how things went for him on the back nine of his round. In this stretch, he didn’t hit a single fairway, yet he managed a two-under-par… How do you do that on a course that, while not excruciatingly difficult, becomes quite challenging with the afternoon wind and those firm greens? Well, for example, by saving a crazy bogey on the 12th hole after finding water off the tee. Or by holing it from off the green on the 17th after missing both the fairway and the green in regulation. Or by sinking a birdie putt from about seven metres on the 15th…
But even then, he almost made an eagle by miracle on the 18th, as he nearly holed it from ninety metres with a delightful little wedge, a signature move. In any case, his magician-like play grants Armitage a well-earned label as the main contender with 36 holes to go.
Iván Cantero (-6) has also earned the right to aim for everything over the weekend. The Asturian managed to turn around a round that started off poorly (he began today on the 10th hole), with some bogeys that players rightly call silly. The one on the 13th, for instance, hitting the second shot from the middle of the fairway, less than a hundred metres from the flag. Or the one on the 14th, where he missed a putt of less than a metre to save par. However, Iván was about to give those emerging ghosts a good beating…
He made excellent birdies on the 16th, 18th, and 5th holes, and also left at least two more great birdie chances on the 1st and 3rd holes. He finished with the shot of the day on the 8th hole, a long par 5 where the wind was decidedly against in the afternoon. He hit an outstanding drive off the tee, but the best was yet to come. Next, from the fairway, with 255 metres to the flag and more than just a breeze against him, he pulled out the mini driver and struck a fabulous shot, complete with a little draw, that wasn’t too far from taking the ball to the hole in two on this 600-yard monster, as the ball passed very close, finally stopping about eight metres behind. Not even the final bogey on the 9th hole could spoil Cantero’s afternoon (final round of 71). The work was done, and he now has an interesting (and possibly very valuable) weekend ahead.
It’s very likely that David Puig (-4) will also have much to say in the remaining 36 holes after signing the same score as Cantero, a card of 71 strokes. The young Catalan also managed to complete a round that was challenging due to the wind and the firmness of the greens. Joel Moscatel (-1, today a round of 74) and Pablo Larrazábal (-1, today a round of 72) also secured their spots within the cut with more pressure and will start tomorrow in the early matches aiming to get into the action by taking advantage of the favourable conditions in the early hours of play.
