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Donaldson pulls ahead in Sweden

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Jamie Donaldson of Wales in action during the second round of The Nordea Masters at Barseback Golf & Country Club. © Getty Images | Stuart Franklin
Jamie Donaldson of Wales in action during the second round of The Nordea Masters at Barseback Golf & Country Club. © Getty Images | Stuart Franklin

Jamie Donaldson opened up a two shot lead over nearest challenger Renato Paratore at the Nordea Masters, after recording a second consecutive round of 69.

The Welshman is eight under par going into the weekend, and he will tee off on Saturday alongside 20 year old Paratore of Italy.

English duo Max Orrin and Graeme Storm join Frenchman Benjamin Hebert at five under par, with Canadian Austin Connelly, Dane Thorbjørn Olesen and England’s Chris Wood one shot further back.

Donaldson, going in search of a fourth European Tour title and a first since the 2014 D+D REAL Czech Masters, started the day with a birdie followed by ten pars in a row including an impressive save from the fringe on the tenth.

A six-footer on the 12th saw him take advantage of the par five and when he rolled an 18-foot right-to-lefter up the hill on the next, he was in control. A bogey followed on the 15th but he recovered from a poor tee-shot on the 16th to capitalise on another par five before putting his approach to the 17th to four feet.

Joint overnight-leader Paratore recovered from a shaky start with four birdies on the way in to sign for a 72.

Player Quotes

Jamie Donaldson: “I played nicely. There were times when the ball wasn’t where I wanted it to be, but I made some great escapes.

“The chipping and putting has been better over the last couple of days. I have been playing quite nicely recently but just not quite putting it all together, but the first couple of days here, I’ve been able to do that.

“It’s one of those golf courses, it’s difficult, especially when the wind is up a bit. The fairways are quite narrow and it’s long so you have to be very patient around here and put your ball on the short grass if you can and play from there.

“More of the same for the weekend really. I’ve got my map of the golf course and how to play it. I don’t know what the weather is going to do tomorrow, it might be windy, it might not, so we’ll wake up and take it from there.”

Renato Paratore: “It was a good round in the end today. I started badly on my front nine. I played some bad iron shots,

but then I made a very good birdie on my second, the 11th. From there I started to play well and added another three birdies.

“Yesterday I played really solid. What changed today was the bad iron play, but I putted really well so I managed to get to one under par for the day.

“I’m in a good position for the weekend so I’m looking forward to the next two days.”

Graeme Storm: “It was a bit of a roller coaster yesterday with birdies and bogies, it was just a bit of a mixed bag. Today was much more consistent. There were a couple of mistakes – I had a three putt on the fourth – but other than that I gave myself plenty of chances.

“I’ve got a bit of confidence, I’m playing nicely and enjoying my golf. I haven’t got a great record playing in Sweden but I do enjoy coming here.

“Over the weekend I’m looking for more of the same really, keep the ball in play and just giving myself as many chances as possible. The greens are small so you need to try to get on the right side of the green, you don’t want to miss them on the short side so I’ll just keep doing what I’m doing.”

Thorbjorn Olesen: “I played a couple of really poor shots on the first three or four holes and made a couple of bogies. All of a sudden I’m on the cut line at plus one. One of my key things this week was to work on my mental strength and I feel like I’ve done that well these last two days.

“Even though I’ve hut a few poor shots I’ve bounced back very quickly to make some good shots and get some birdies. I’m very happy and proud of the way I’ve handled things these first two days.

“I’ve been working a lot on my putting and I think I’ve been rolling it very nicely. As soon as I get the read right I start holing a lot of putts and I showed that around the turn there. I holed some great putts and made a lot of birdies there. Obviously that’s what I want to do over the weekend as well.”

Austin Connelly: “I played very solid. It was tough this morning. It was pretty cold when I teed off and blowing pretty hard.

“I got to experience some wind early, but I was able to survive through it, so I’m very, very happy with a bogie-free round out there. The golf course is playing so difficult, so it’s great to post that kind of number.

“I was just playing some conservative and smart golf. I’ve been trying to hit it to the proper side of every hole. You can really get yourself into some jams out there if you miss on the wrong side. I’ve been doing my best to put myself in the correct position and I’ve been doing a pretty good job thus far.

“I’m very happy to be at four under par. Obviously I would have taken that at the start of the day, so I’m feeling good and looking forward to the weekend.”

Round Two Scores

138 J Donaldson (Wal) 69 69,

140 R Paratore (Ita) 68 72,

141 B Hebert (Fra) 70 71, G Storm (Eng) 73 68, M Orrin (Eng) 68 73,

142 A Connelly (Can) 72 70, C Wood (Eng) 74 68, T Olesen (Den) 72 70,

143 M Fitzpatrick (Eng) 73 70, B Dredge (Wal) 69 74, S Hend (Aus) 71 72, J Wang (Kor) 72 71, M Pavon (Fra) 74 69, R Sterne (RSA) 75 68, R Green (Aus) 72 71, T Lewis (Eng) 71 72,

144 E Pepperell (Eng) 70 74, A Sullivan (Eng) 73 71, S Jamieson (Sco) 73 71, G Coetzee (RSA) 73 71, J Lagergren (Swe) 74 70, S Chawrasia (Ind) 71 73, J Lima (Por) 71 73, S Soderberg (Swe) 71 73,

145 H Stenson (Swe) 73 72, S Gallacher (Sco) 74 71, S Gros (Fra) 75 70, N Colsaerts (Bel) 73 72, R Ramsay (Sco) 73 72, Z Lombard (RSA) 73 72, J Smith (Eng) 75 70, K Broberg (Swe) 73 72, F Aguilar (Chi) 72 73, P Hanson (Swe) 73 72, A Noren (Swe) 75 70, L Haotong (Chn) 70 75, A Dodt (Aus) 77 68, T Jaidee (Tha) 72 73, L Westwood (Eng) 73 72, K Aphibarnrat (Tha) 73 72, O Gillberg (am) (Swe) 76 69,

146 P Waring (Eng) 75 71, N Lemke (Swe) 75 71, J Van Zyl (RSA) 72 74, L Jensen (Den) 74 72, M Southgate (Eng) 72 74, C Blomstrand (Swe) 74 72, J Edfors (Swe) 77 69, J Winther (Den) 71 75, N Elvira (Esp) 73 73, A Levy (Fra) 74 72, J Guerrier (Fra) 73 73, S Dyson (Eng) 73 73, D Brooks (Eng) 73 73, S Kapur (Ind) 73 73, L Canter (Eng) 74 72, F Nilehn (am) (Swe) 76 70,

147 G Bourdy (Fra) 73 74, E De La Riva (Esp) 76 71, J Fahrbring (Swe) 72 75, A Cañizares (Esp) 76 71, N Kimsey (Eng) 74 73, M Siem (Ger) 74 73, L Bjerregaard (Den) 73 74, R Karlberg (Swe) 72 75, R Bland (Eng) 77 70, D Lipsky (USA) 75 72, M Manassero (Ita) 75 72, S Brazel (Aus) 76 71, A Bernadet (Fra) 76 71, R Fox (Nzl) 75 72, P Edberg (Swe) 72 75,

148 P Larrazábal (Esp) 75 73, A Chesters (Eng) 76 72, A Björk (Swe) 76 72, R Wattel (Fra) 74 74, C Paisley (Eng) 73 75, J Parry (Eng) 73 75, P Peterson (USA) 73 75,

149 J Carlsson (Swe) 75 74, H Porteous (RSA) 76 73, A Otaegui (Esp) 75 74, S Lee (Kor) 72 77, R McEvoy (Eng) 75 74, N Bertasio (Ita) 75 74, P Dunne (Irl) 78 71, G Stal (Fra) 76 73, R Langasque (Fra) 73 76, J Walters (RSA) 75 74, M Armitage (Eng) 75 74, R Gouveia (Por) 75 74, W Ormsby (Aus) 76 73, O Fisher (Eng) 74 75, S Walker (Eng) 74 75,

150 A Wall (Eng) 74 76, J Campillo (Esp) 74 76, D Stewart (Sco) 82 68, A Wu (Chn) 71 79, J Luiten (Ned) 77 73, M Ilonen (Fin) 73 77, N Fasth (Swe) 77 73, Z Wright (USA) 77 73, R Echenique (Arg) 74 76, C Hanson (Eng) 76 74, B Ritthammer (Ger) 76 74, S Manley (Wal) 77 73, D Im (USA) 76 74,

151 P Widegren (Swe) 78 73, J Stalter (Fra) 76 75, D Perrier (Fra) 79 72, D Frittelli (RSA) 74 77, T Immelman (RSA) 75 76, A Hansen (Den) 77 74, F Fritsch (Ger) 81 70, R Gonzalez (Arg) 77 74, D Drysdale (Sco) 77 74, O Lengden (Swe) 79 72, H Rönneblad (am) (Swe) 76 75,

152 A Knappe (Ger) 78 74, T Detry (Bel) 76 76, R Jacquelin (Fra) 77 75, J Scrivener (Aus) 77 75, M Miller (USA) 77 75, J Ahlers (RSA) 78 74, J Quesne (Fra) 73 79, M Warren (Sco) 74 78, S Henry (Sco) 79 73,

153 O Stark (Swe) 76 77, N Johansson (Swe) 80 73, R Dinwiddie (Eng) 79 74, B Rumford (Aus) 76 77, R Rock (Eng) 76 77,

154 J Rutherford (Eng) 79 75, R Johnson (Swe) 80 74, M Fraser (Aus) 76 78, M Larsson (Swe) 77 77, J Dantorp (Swe) 78 76, S Heisele (Ger) 76 78,

155 S Tiley (Eng) 80 75, M Foster (Eng) 78 77, R Finch (Eng) 78 77, M Carlsson (Swe) 80 75, G Havret (Fra) 77 78, L Slattery (Eng) 81 74, M Kieffer (Ger) 78 77,

156 P Maddy (Eng) 77 79, A Karlsson (Swe) 80 76,

157 G Kristjansson (Isl) 79 78, T Bjørn (Den) 75 82,

159 M Nixon (Eng) 77 82, G King (Eng) 79 80,

160 P Angles (Esp) 78 82,

162 M Atlevi (Swe) 80 82,

** C Shinkwin (Eng) 80 DQ, R Karlsson (Swe) DQ 0, D Howell (Eng) RT 0,