acciona Open de España R2

England’s Paul Waring matched the low round of the week on Friday, an 8-under 63, after firing ten birdies and two bogeys to take the lead of the acciona Open de España at 12-under.

“I hit some alright shots. I actually got the putter quite hot which is not like me at all really, so it was nice to hole a few long ones coming in and keep that momentum I had going during the round, so happy with that finish definitely.

“I really enjoy this golf course, it suits me. I am staying aggressive with driver and it’s giving me a lot of chances with wedges, which is one of the strong parts of my game. So it’s giving me chances and then I capitalised with the putter which is ideal.

“I have had three weeks out sat on the couch, which is a bit annoying but never mind, it is nice to be back out here. I didn’t do an awful lot in those three weeks but the golf game feels in good shape, and it is nice to be out in the sunshine, (with) great people, great food, great wine and a nice golf course.”

Round of the day @PaulWaringGolf to join the lead on -12 ✍️#AccionaOpen

— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) October 7, 2022

The Englishman was joined at the top by Scotland’s Stephen Gallacher who shot a second straight 65.

“I played pretty good the week before going into the Dunhill and then I worked hard with my coach and just found something at the Dunhill, where I played well in practice and all the way through. And I carried it on here, playing well in the pro-am and then for the first two days as well,” said Gallacher.

“You are always working to improve and we just worked on my backswing. It’s also been a different way of thinking as I’ve been working with my psychologist as well, just freeing myself up and just swinging at it.

“Halfway, you’ve done not a bad job and now you need to do the same again. You’ve got some great players playing.

“The weather has been perfect, and the course is in unbelievable condition, so you can shoot a low score. We’ll just see what happens. If I can play the same over the weekend, who knows.”

Another Scot, David Drysdale (66), lies in a share of third place at 11-under alongside South African Hennie du Plessis (66).

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Overnight co-leaders Kiradech Aphibarnrat (69) of Thailand and Darius van Driel (69) of the Netherlands share fifth place at 10-under with local favourite Jon Rahm (68), France‘s Matthieu Pavon (68) and Australia‘s Min Woo Lee (65).

The third overnight leader, Ashun Wu of China, carded a 72 and slipped down into a share of 16th place at 7-under.