Borja Virto moved into the outright lead on the second day of the Rolex Trophy, carding a second successive round of 66 to top the leaderboard on 12 under par at Golf Club de Genève.
The Spaniard shared top spot after Round One but, for the second day in a row, six birdies and an eagle outweighed a couple of dropped shots as he finished one shot ahead of Adrien Saddier.
Virto, twice a winner on the European Challenge Tour on his way to graduating in 2015, has had a mixed season so far and he is keen to improve on his Road to Oman Ranking of 51st.
Borja on 🔥@BorjaVirto makes his fifth birdie of the day on the second to move to 10 under, one ahead at the #RolexTrophy pic.twitter.com/ELLz60UG8N
— Challenge Tour (@Challenge_Tour) August 24, 2017
“I’m feeling really good, really happy,” said the 26 year old. “My game was really good again and I had a nice finish, with an eagle on the eighth and a good two-putt on nine after over-hitting the first one.
“I actually played really well today again, similar to yesterday. I had a good start, holing a bunker shot on the 11th for a birdie, and I just played really steady for most of the round.
“I’ve been hitting the ball pretty consistently all week, which is important on a course like this because if you’re in the trees or even just not on the fairway you can put yourself in a lot of trouble.
“I’ve been hitting a lot of fairways and greens and that’s been giving me a lot of birdie chances and I’ve been making a few of them, so that’s really been the key.
“My Ranking isn’t that good but I don’t feel like I’ve really focused 100% on the Challenge Tour this year, and I’m actually feeling quite comfortable when I’m playing on the tour.
“I think if I get another couple of good finishes I’ll have another chance to graduate from the Road to Oman – something similar to 2015 would be perfect, a couple of wins maybe!”
Started on 10:
— Challenge Tour (@Challenge_Tour) August 24, 2017
Out in 34
In in 29
A 63, the low round of the week, takes Adrien Saddier to 11 under par, one off the #RolexTrophy lead 👏 pic.twitter.com/bklllP8n4r
Virto’s nearest challenger is Saddier after the Frenchman fired the round of the week, an outstanding nine under par 63 that required only 29 shots on his inward nine after he started on the tenth hole.
The player who shoots the low round of the tournament wins himself a Rolex watch from the title sponsors and Saddier’s compatriot Julien Guerrier, the highest-ranked player in the exclusive 42-man field this week, would have been confident after his 64 today before Saddier’s afternoon delight.
Two shots behind, Dominic Foos, Lorenzo Gagli and Mikael Lundberg all share third place on nine under par.
