Former college roommates Victor Perez and Gavin Green are set for a special reunion at Royal Greens Golf and Country Club after moving to the top of the leaderboard in the Saudi International powered by SoftBank Investment Advisers.
The pair, who have fond memories of living together at the University of New Mexico, will go head-to-head in the final group in Saturday’s third round, with pacesetter Perez one shot clear of his friend.
Frenchman Perez posted his second consecutive round of 65 to move to ten under par, while Malaysia’s Green carded a round of 67 for a nine under par total.
Major Champion Graeme McDowell, who he shared the first round lead with Green, is a shot further back on eight under par after a round of 68.
Defending champion Dustin Johnson signed for a round of 68 and is five shots back in a share of eighth place on five under par.
Player quotes
Victor Perez
“I am very pleased the with the second round. I think it was important to keep the hammer down after obviously a 65 in the wind yesterday. I think they were definitely the tougher conditions, and it’s one of those days where you hope to stay a couple under.
“I was able to play really well yesterday, and obviously coming out this morning, this is the round where you have to try to take as much advantage as you can and put some points on the board, and obviously I’m in a very good position for tomorrow.
“We were roommates in college for four years and we are obviously very close. He played very well yesterday and I’m looking forward to playing together. Being on Tour together makes it really easy to catch up. He’s a great talent and he has been coming up and a long time so it’s only a matter of time before he breaks through.”
Gavin Green
“Playing with Victor tomorrow, I think it will be fun. It’s just like college days again. We’ve been friends since college and it will be great fun.
“I’m sure we will talk about some stuff. It’s been a couple years. I think played with him probably last year, so it’s been a while. I know he’s been playing really good. Just have fun with him tomorrow.
“I’m excited just to be in the mix. I’ve been there a couple times and just try to put myself in the position a couple more times and see what happens.”
Graeme McDowell
“It’s always hard to come out right after a good round like I shot yesterday and try and keep the pedal down. I felt like I played pretty loose today. It was obviously better conditions this morning.
“I three-putted the 11th, my second hole of the morning, which sort of derailed me a little bit. I continued to hit fairways which is key on this golf course. I hit some really quality iron shots. I think the back nine in particular is quite difficult on this course.
“It was tough to get going. A couple of birdies on the front were very pleasing and it was nice to hang in there coming in. All in all, very happy the way I hit the ball today and looking forward to being in position going into this weekend.
Second round scores
130 V Perez (Fra) 65 65,
131 G Green (Mas) 64 67,
132 G McDowell (Nir) 64 68,
133 R Paratore (Ita) 68 65,
134 V Dubuisson (Fra) 69 65, J Janewattananond (Tha) 68 66, R Fisher (Eng) 66 68,
135 H Stenson (Swe) 65 70, D Johnson (USA) 67 68, F Laporta (Ita) 67 68, M Kinhult (Swe) 67 68,
136 J Vegas (Ven) 65 71, S Lowry (Irl) 69 67, P Mickelson (USA) 66 70, J Walters (RSA) 71 65, S Crocker (USA) 68 68, S Kjeldsen (Den) 67 69,
137 A Rai (Eng) 66 71, S Garcia Rodriguez (Esp) 67 70, P Larrazábal (Esp) 69 68, A Wu (Chn) 71 66, R McEvoy (Eng) 69 68, S Garcia (Esp) 69 68, J Morrison (Eng) 69 68, A Sullivan (Eng) 66 71, T Pieters (Bel) 70 67, A Björk (Swe) 68 69, J Winther (Den) 69 68, M Kaymer (Ger) 73 64, D Howell (Eng) 68 69,
138 M Wallace (Eng) 70 68, L Herbert (Aus) 67 71, J Smith (Eng) 71 67, N Colsaerts (Bel) 69 69, S Soderberg (Swe) 65 73, N Elvira (Esp) 72 66, A Meronk (Pol) 68 70,
139 A Arnaus (Esp) 65 74, J Luiten (Ned) 67 72, L Gagli (Ita) 73 66, A Levy (Fra) 69 70, A Ancer (Mex) 69 70, T Detry (Bel) 73 66, M Antcliff (Aus) 70 69, R Cabrera Bello (Esp) 69 70, B Koepka (USA) 70 69, H Porteous (RSA) 72 67, D Burmester (RSA) 71 68, M Pavon (Fra) 68 71, S Heisele (Ger) 70 69, G Forrest (Sco) 73 66,
140 B Hebert (Fra) 71 69, J Senior (Eng) 71 69, F Zanotti (Par) 68 72, A Chesters (Eng) 73 67, A Otaegui (Esp) 69 71, J Guerrier (Fra) 75 65, R Ramsay (Sco) 70 70, K Samooja (Fin) 72 68, A Rozner (Fra) 72 68, S Jamieson (Sco) 73 67, C Syme (Sco) 69 71, E Molinari (Ita) 71 69, I Poulter (Eng) 72 68,
141 H Li (Chn) 70 71, E Els (RSA) 72 69, C Bezuidenhout (RSA) 68 73, S Gallacher (Sco) 70 71, S Brown (Eng) 71 70, M Kawamura (Jpn) 73 68, M Kieffer (Ger) 70 71, R Fox (Nzl) 66 75, N Bertasio (Ita) 72 69, M Schwab (Aut) 69 72, J Harding (RSA) 68 73, G Bhullar (Ind) 74 67,
142 C Paisley (Eng) 70 72, S Horsfield (Eng) 70 72, Z Lombard (RSA) 72 70, M Jordan (Eng) 73 69, D Drysdale (Sco) 73 69, M Korhonen (Fin) 71 71, S Hend (Aus) 68 74, P Waring (Eng) 72 70, C Sharvin (Nir) 75 67, J Lagergren (Swe) 75 67, M Lee (Aus) 74 68,
143 R Macintyre (Sco) 72 71, O Wilson (Eng) 75 68, J Donaldson (Wal) 71 72, B Wiesberger (Aut) 75 68, A Quiros (Esp) 72 71, D Van Driel (Ned) 71 72, S Sharma (Ind) 68 75, R Bland (Eng) 69 74, L Westwood (Eng) 70 73, R Langasque (Fra) 71 72, G Migliozzi (Ita) 70 73, R Højgaard (Den) 70 73, P Reed (USA) 73 70,
144 C Hill (Sco) 71 73, T Pulkkanen (Fin) 73 71, A Bhatia (USA) 72 72, A Pavan (Ita) 71 73, E Van Rooyen (RSA) 71 73, J Singh Brar (Eng) 70 74, O Fisher (Eng) 73 71, J Campillo (Esp) 73 71, M Lorenzo-Vera (Fra) 74 70,
145 D Micheluzzi (Aus) 72 73, D Horsey (Eng) 74 71, T Lewis (Eng) 66 79, T Aiken (RSA) 73 72, D Law (Sco) 75 70,
146 J Wang (Kor) 73 73, S Crampton (USA) 74 72, J Hansen (Den) 74 72,
147 J Elson (Eng) 79 68, R Rock (Eng) 71 76, R Santos (Por) 74 73, B Poke (Den) 74 73,
148 A Marjan (Mar) 75 73, M Southgate (Eng) 71 77,
149 W Ormsby (Aus) 76 73, R Jacquelin (Fra) 70 79,
150 O Almulla (Ksa) 75 75, O Farr (Wal) 73 77, B Stone (RSA) 78 72, T Bjørn (Den) 73 77,
155 S Al Sharif (am) (Ksa) 82 73,
166 F Salhab (am) (Ksa) 82 84,
** C Shinkwin (Eng) 79 WD,
