Francesco Laporta will take a two stoke lead into the weekend of the Hopps Open de Provence at Golf International de Pont Royal after firing an eight under par round of 64 on day two in France.
The Italian started on the back nine, making the turn four under par and he carded another four birdies on the way home - including three in his last five holes - to reach 13 under for the week, two clear of overnight leader Félix Mory.
The 32-year-old, who claimed a third European Challenge Tour win in the Big Green Egg German Challenge powered by VcG in July, credits a strong start this week to the work he’s done in practice.
“I’m feeling good with my game,” he said. “I did a good job in the last two weeks. I was coming from a missed cut in Portugal, so I really worked hard to try to improve my game and it looks like it’s working. I gave myself a lot of opportunities today.
“I tried to change something with my swing. With my coach, we realised my swing wasn’t in the best shape. We didn’t change a lot because we’re at the end of the season, but it’s working.
“If you believe in what you’re trying to do, good things are going to happen. I’ll just try to keep it up for the next couple of days.”
Laporta was crowned the Road to Mallorca Number One in 2019, and after losing his DP World Tour card last year, he is now in contention to return to golf’s Global Tour at the first time of asking.
The Italian currently sits 25th in the Rankings and, with the top 20 at the end of the season earning graduation, he’s hoping to continue plotting his way around the Seve Ballesteros-designed layout this weekend to move back into the promotion places.
“My long game and my short game are working well and I made the most of it today,” he added. “The course is tricky. You have to hit your tee shot very straight. If you start to hit it a bit right or a bit left, you give yourself problems.
“If you hit a good tee shot, you can have a lot of opportunities, but if you miss, you’re in trouble. This is what I tried to do with my caddie, to play safe and not be too aggressive, and that’s the mindset this week.
“The last time I played here was 2019 and I finished third, so I like the place, I like the course and I think it suits my game.”
Spaniard Manuel Elvira and the French duo of Gregory Bourdy and Damien Perrier are three strokes off the lead in a share of third place, with their compatriot Frederic Lacroix one shot further back in sixth on nine under par.
The third round gets under way at 8:10am local time with Laporta teeing off alongside Mory and Elvira at 12:16pm.
