Despite suffering a sprained ankle and carding a brace of double bogeys, Cyril Bouniol joined overnight leader Florian Fritsch at the head of affairs on the second morning of the Norwegian Challenge.
The Challenge Tour rookie, who completed his university studies in west Texas in 2011, carded a second successive round of 68 to move to eight under par alongside Fritsch, the German who is amongst the afternoon starters at Miklagard Golf Club.
Bouniol sustained his injury after slipping down a bank adjacent to the 16th tee, but that did not prevent the 27 year old from making a birdie there and he added another on the 17th hole for a rousing finish to an eventful day.
The first of Bouniol’s double bogeys came on the par three fifth hole where, after pushing his tee shot right, he fluffed his first chip and then lipped out for bogey.
But he immediately recovered those dropped shots at the sixth hole, hitting his three wood to 30 feet and draining the eagle putt.
An errant tee shot resulted in a lost ball and another double bogey on the 14th hole, but that late surge means the Frenchman will enter the weekend with a chance of claiming his maiden Challenge Tour title.
He said: “I feel very comfortable on this course. Other than the two doubles I played really well and actually missed quite a few good birdie chances, so my round could’ve been even lower. But overall I putted really well, and when I’m putting this well I feel like I can definitely compete with these guys out here.
“I didn’t let the double bogeys affect me because both times I got the shots straight back, which shows that my mindset was good. Obviously it irritated me a little at the time, but I told myself I was playing and putting well, so it was only a matter of time before I recovered.
“I don’t know how far back I’ll be going into the weekend, but hopefully it’s not too far and I can get myself into contention going into the final day. But I can’t control that – all I can control is how I’m playing, and I’m very happy with that.”
With the late starters yet to complete their rounds, a whole host of players are jostling for position behind the leaders including local hero Anders Engell, who is attached to Miklagard GC.
Engell employed his intimate knowledge of Robert Trent Jones Jnr’s layout to fire seven birdies in a flawless round of 65 which moved him to seven under par alongside, amongst others, England’s Richard McEvoy, who signed for a 66.
