Entertainment, good play, surprises and a huge audience in the second round of the 81st Italian Open presented by the Emilia-Romagna Region. The American Gunner Wiebe remained alone in the lead with 133 (64 69, -9) shots on the course of the Adriatic Golf Club (par 71) in Cervia where he narrowly precedes the German Yannik De Bruyn, second with 134 (-8) , overtaken at the end after having been leader in the clubhouse for most of the day.
Italian Open, results
Among the Azzurri, Edoardo Molinari made an excellent recovery, climbing from 31st to ninth place with 137 (69 68, -5), also occupied by Andrea Pavan (137 64 73), who lost the leadership in a round in which it was not repeated as in the first round.
In third place with 135 (-7) are the South African Brandon Stone, the Swede Marcus Kinhult, the Spaniard Adrian Otaegui and the Dane Sebastian Friedrichsen, at the top after 18 holes with Pavan and Wiebe. Immediately behind, seventh with 136 (-6), the Indian Shubhankar Sharma and the Canadian Aaron Cockerill.
Seven other Italians remained in the race including Filippo Celli who, with a partial of 68 (-3) and a score of 138 (-4), moved from 51st to 23rd place, and notes of merit also for Gregorio De Leo, 34th with 139 (-3), who gained 65 positions.
Same score for Manassero, rather fluctuating and who shot 71 par, and one stroke more for Jacopo Vecchi Fossa, 45th with 140 (-2). Guido Migliozzi and Lorenzo Scalise, 74th after one round, are 56th with 141 (-1) together with Aron Zemmer.
The two Masters Champions in the competition were disappointing: the American Patrick Reed, 45th with 140 (-2), and the Englishman Danny Willett who was eliminated (84th with 143, +1). Andrea Pavan shot a 73 (+2) with two birdies and two double bogeys: I didn't offer the performance I showed in the first round he said but I also shot good shots.
A bit of bad luck on holes 9 and 17, it was certainly a more complicated day where I struggled a bit to get the ball close to the shaft. There are still two laps to go, I remain satisfied and focused for the final rounds." Determined Edoardo Molinari: I played quite well on a court that was even more difficult than the first round.
It was a good lap with very hidden flags. Now it's the weekend and I will give my all to get the best possible result." Filippo Celli was also motivated: I'm very happy with the performance, but I paid dearly for a couple of missed shots in both laps.
Since the beginning of the season, some of my good performances have not had the right numerical response: it is not a game problem, but just a question of having patience and thinking positively on the pitch. That's what I'm doing now and I hope to be rewarded soon by the results." Gunner Wiebe, 35, who has played competitions on the PGA Tour and Korn Ferry Tour, carded a par of 69 (-2) with three birdies and the only bogey over 36 holes.
He aims to become the second American to win the Open after Billy Casper (1975). The cut, which fell to 141 (-1), left 68 competitors in the race who will compete for the prize pool of 3,250,000 dollars, with the first coin of 552,500 going to the winner.
