Three players are tied at the top of the leaderboard going into Fridayâs second round of the BMW International Open: Lasse Jensen (Denmark), Rafael Cabrera-Bello (Spain) and Daniel Gaunt (England) went round the Championship Course at Golfclub MĂźnchen Eichenried in 65 shots (-7), thrilling the 14,000 spectators with a dazzling display of top-class golf in glorious sunshine.
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However, a big chasing pack littered with big names is hot on their heels. Among them is world number seven Henrik Stenson (67, -5). It looked briefly as though the Swedeâs challenge was set to fade after a triple-bogey on the sixteenth (his seventh) hole. However, Stenson kept his cool, shooting eight birdies to fight his way back into a tie for fifth place.
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âThere was a lot going on there today,â said Stenson, who won the BMW International Open back in 2006. âI got off to a pretty good start, and I didnât do too much wrong on 16 but wound up with a triple bogey. I hung in there and tried to just keep on going. Then I wrapped up with a nice string of birdies on 5, 6, 7 and 8.â
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The two best-placed Germans trail Stenson by just one shot after the first round: Munich-born Florian Fritsch (68, -4) thrilled golf fans on the Championship Course with five birdies and just one bogey â and was happy with his âhome-comingâ performance. âI have played here a few times in the past, but never particularly well. Today was a different story,â he said. âI just putted better than I have before. Then a nice run of three birdies in a row took me to four under par. I will try to continue to play my game and take it one shot at a time â then we will see what happens in the end.â
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Marcel Schneider also carded a 68 (-4) to tie with Fritsch and a further twelve players in tenth place. Fellow Germans Anton Kirstein (70, -2), Bernd Ritthammer (71,-1), and local favourite Marcel Siem (-1) also broke par. BMW Golfsport Ambassador Max Kieffer, who turned 25 today and was presented with a new BMW M4 CoupĂŠ for his birthday shortly before starting his round, had to settle for a level par 72, along with two-time major winner Martin Kaymer.
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