Paul Peterson will take a one stroke lead over Alfredo Garcia-Heredia into the weekend of the Le Vaudreuil Golf Challenge.
The American posted a four under par round of 67 to lead on 11 under par, while 39-year-old Garcia-Heredia carded an eight under par round of 63 to reach ten under par at Golf PGA France du Vaudreuil.
Four-time European Tour winner Marcel Siem continued his fine form as he carded the lowest round of the tournament thus far, a nine under par 62, to climb to a share of third place with Switzerland’s Benjamin Rusch.
Peterson held a threestroke lead at the end of round one but quickly put that out of his mind as he carded four birdies and just one bogey to maintain his position at the top of the leaderboard.
“It felt good,” he said. “I came into today making sure I didn’t compare anything to yesterday because sometimes those good rounds are tough to follow up.
“I came in with an open mind knowing that it might not feel as good as yesterday or something would be different. I came into the day focusing on figuring out a way to get it done out here again today and I was able to do that.”
The 33-year-old felt right at home as he drew similarities between the Golf PGA France du Vaudreuil and the courses where he grew up in theUnited States and is looking to take full advantage of the soft greens heading into moving day.
“The course has been great,” he said. “It kind of reminds me of golf courses back home in Oregon. We get a lot of rain up there in the Northwest, so soft conditions out here and tree-lined fairways it tends to suit my eye.
“I will take the same approach tomorrow. I will be aggressive when I’ve got wedges and good looks, hit it to the middle of the green when you’re out of position and keep hitting fairways because you want that advantage of being able to control your trajectory and spin out here.
“I believe I can win this week. I’ve done it on the Asian Tour, the European Tour and I’d love to add the Challenge Tour to that and I believe in myself right now and what I’m doing and I am looking forward to the weekend.”
Australian Dimitrios Papadatos and Spaniard Ivan Cantero Gutierrez share fifth place on seven under par while four players shared seventh place on six under, including Road to Mallorca Number One Santiago Tarrio. The cut fell at one over par, with 66 players set to compete over the final two rounds.
The third round of the Le Vaudreuil Golf Challenge will begin at 8am local time, with Peterson playing in the final group alongside Garcia-Heredia and Benjamin Rusch at 12:12pm.
