Stephen Ames fired a 3-under par 70 to keep up his spot on the high of the leaderboard following the second spherical of the Trophy Hassan II on Friday in Rabat, Morocco.
Australia’s Mark Hensby (67) and England’s Paul Broadhurst (70) have been three strokes again at 6 beneath.
His spherical adopted an opening-day 67 to face at 9 beneath within the 54-hole event. In Round 2, he bogeyed No. 2, then birdied 4 of the subsequent 10 holes. He dropped a stroke at No. 14 however regained it with a birdie at No. 17.
Despite the bogey on the par-3 14th gap, Ames usually was inspired by his day at Royal Golf Dar Es Salam.
“Keeping it — I assume attempt to hold it out of the difficulty, hitting the ball in the suitable spots the place I have to, taking the two-putts after I can, after which
generally when the numbers are appropriate, I hit a superb tee shot, a superb second shot or tee shot in there and I make birdie,” the 58-year-old Canadian said, reviewing his first two rounds. “My solely hiccup in the present day was the par 3. I three-putted, however apart from that, I used to be very proud of my day. It was a really lengthy and tedious day, 5 hours and 10 minutes, in order that was principally extra of a recreation of endurance than the rest in the present day.”
He has one victory on the Champions Tour after holding not less than a share of the lead after the second spherical, successful on the 2017 Mitsubishi Electric Classic.
He led after Rounds 1 and a couple of on the 2020 Morocco Champions occasion in Marrakesh however completed in second place.
Five pictures again at 4 beneath and in fourth place are Sweden’s Robert Karlsson (73) and defending champion Brett Quigley (70). Jeff Sluman shot a 73 and is alone in sixth place at 3 beneath, adopted by the group of Paul Stankowski (70), Scotland’s Colin Montgomerie (74) and Paul Lawrie (75) tied for seventh place at 1 beneath.
Those are the one gamers beneath par on the par 73, 7,166-yard course, which gamers mentioned has been robust to navigate.
Hensby mentioned he wasn’t positive simply what to credit score for his 67, which was the low spherical on Friday. He combined an eagle on the par-4 No. 17 with 5 birdies and a bogey.
“I don’t know, I just obviously got a good run going towards the end,” he mentioned. “I hit a really good shot on 17 and made the putt; I think I made a really good putt on 15. So it’s a grind. Every hole you’ve got to really hit it in the right spots and you never know what’s going to happen out there, that’s for sure.”
Hensby, 51, is looking for his first Champions Tour win in 11 begins.
–Field Level Media