England’s James Hepworth fired a second round 67 to maintain his two shot lead at the head of the Abierto Telefonica Moviles de Guatemala field after a day of outstanding scoring at the Hacienda Neuva Country Club – where Norway’s Paul Nilbrink, and the Argentine pair of Andres Romero and Daniel Vancsik, carded rounds of nine under par 63 to post the lowest scores of the day.
Hepworth has a two round aggregate of 13 under par 131, with Nilbrink now in outright second place on 11 under par 133 following his 63. Vancsik is tied third, while Romero is lying in joint 16th position at the halfway stage.
Nilbrink began the day with a steady par on the 10th, but followed that up with a spectacular run of six birdies between the 11th and 16th. He continued his ruthless birdie streak by picking up shots on the first, fifth and sixth holes to get to 11-under par.
“I was actually thinking that I have had 63 twice before, and that it was possible to go lower,” said the 33-year old Nilbrink, winner of two events during his 11 year career on the European Challenge Tour. “I had good chances with four meter putts on the last three holes, and I made a good effort with all of them, but they didn’t drop. But I am very happy about today.”
After opening the defence of his Abierto Telefonica Moviles de Guatemala title with a level par 72, Vancsik knew that he needed a good second round score to keep his hopes of becoming the first player in the history of the Challenge Tour to win the same event in three consecutive seasons.
Vancsik went on to produce the kind of score that dreams are made of as he matched Nilbrink and Romeo’s best of the tournament by carding a 63 on the course he has twice been crowned a champion. The 29 year old went to the turn in six under par 30 in round two, and supplemented that explosive start with a further three birdies on the way home to join a handful of Latin American players in third place.
“I feel better than ever,” said Vancsik. “Yesterday I shot 71, but I was very anxious. I was playing well and I wanted to have a very good score, but it went the other way. Today I started sinking putts and early on I knew it was going to be a good round. If I didn’t get a good score I was going to lose the title and all I want to do is fight until the end.”
Romero’s 63 took the Argentine from two over par at the start of the round to seven under come the end of it, but the day belonged to Hepworth, with the Englishman posting a second round of 67 to stay two shots clear of the pack.
“It was pretty much the same as yesterday,” said Hepworth, who leads 61 players into the final two rounds after the 36 hole cut fell at three under par 141. “I had a similar start of birdie-eagle, and then followed with two silly bogeys. I missed two eagle putts from five-feet and didn’t putt as well today, but the good thing is that I keep the rhythm going.
