August 15-18
Albatross Golf Resort, Prague, Czech Republic
โฌ1,000,000
Live leaderboard
Round 1, Round 3, Round 4
Edoardo Molinari credited his two-shot advantage at the D+D Real Czech Masters, and the superb play which yielded a bogey-free opening 36 holes, to a secret change to his routine as the Italian took a halfway lead into the weekend for the first time in his European Tour career.
The 2010 Ryder Cup winner has three European Tour titles to his name but has struggled for consistency in recent years, and he has been searching for the path back to the top of the game.
โI'm playing very consistently, the equipment change helped me a lot at the beginning of the year because I'm not losing my driver to the right anymore like I did in the last few years. Thank God I made a switch and it's definitely going better."
Having carded a second successive 66 at Albatross Golf Resort for a 12 under total, the 38 year old was coy about the secret to his flawless start, although the Italian has recently adopted a noticeable new pre-shot routine which involves extending his hand between his eye-line and the target.
The best of Dodo Molinari's 66 🎥@DodoMolinari #CzechMasters pic.twitter.com/dEobjxxHrG
โ The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) August 16, 2019
โThe reason for this form is a bit of a secret which I'm going to keep to myself for now but I'm definitely playing differently on the course, I'm giving myself lots of chances. Even today I could have made a few putts more and it's just the way it is at the minute.
โI'm picking my spots, there's a bit of engineering behind the aiming technique, I've been doing it for a few months and it's definitely paying off.
โAt the moment I'm very comfortable, I'm enjoying playing golf. I've been going through a tough few years so at the minute I'm just really enjoying myself on the golf course, I'm playing well so life is good at the minute.โ
Molinari has another former Ryder Cup player snapping at his heels as Thomas Pieters birdied the final three holes to enter the weekend in outright second place on ten under.
โI think on 15 I told my caddie I was a bit bored today, playing well but not making anything. I was two-under and a few back so it was nice to finish like that โ a lovely shot at 16 and 18 and then a nice putt on 17.
โSometimes you get a good draw, sometimes you get a bad one but I felt like I took advantage of it in the last few holes. They always play tricky when there's more wind โ 18 is not a difficult hole when there's no wind.
โMentally I'm trying to stay calm and positive and patient โ all of those good things which are still difficult when you have to go out there and implement them. But my swing feels good and I'm hitting the driver really well which helps here so I can cut a lot of corners.โ
The Belgian, a former winner of this event in 2015 who also finished runner-up on his title defence a year later, signed for a second round 67 and a ten under total โ a shot clear of former European Tour Number One Robert Karlsson and three others in a share of third.
โThat was very nice," said Karlsson. "I've been working hard this summer and I've been having good rounds here and there but haven't been able to put them together, so it's nice to be able to put two together.
โI'm here and I want to play well here but at the same time I'm turning 50 soon and am preparing for the Champions Tour Qualifying School, so I want to get some good results and also build up some good form coming to the end of the season.
โI've been hitting my iron shots really well โ especially yesterday it was really good โ and I have myself a lot chances. Yesterday was probably one of the best days with the irons I have had in years and I gave myself about four birdie chances within three feet, so you should make a few of those!โ
Pos. |
Player | Nat |
To Par |
R1 |
1 |
Edoardo Molinari | ITA |
-6 |
66 |
2 |
Thomas Pieters | BEL |
-5 |
67 |
T3 |
Robert Karlsson | SWE |
-4 |
67 |
T3 |
Matthias Schwab | AUT |
-7 |
70 |
T3 |
Sam Horsfield | ENG |
-6 |
69 |
T3 |
Hugo Leon | CHI |
-3 |
66 |
T7 |
Lee Slattery | ENG |
-1 |
65 |
T7 |
Liam Johnston | SCO |
-3 |
67 |
T7 |
Adria Arnaus | ESP |
-7 |
71 |
T7 |
Andrea Pavan | ITA |
-4 |
68 |
T7 |
Rikard Karlberg | SWE |
-5 |
69 |
T7 |
Joachim B. Hansen | DEN |
-2 |
66 |
T7 |
Jacques Kruyswijk | RSA |
-5 |
69 |
T14 |
Kristoffer Reitan | NOR |
-1 |
66 |
T14 |
Victor Dubuisson | FRA |
-5 |
70 |
T14 |
JC Ritchie | RSA |
-5 |
70 |
T14 |
Matthew Nixon | ENG |
-5 |
70 |
T14 |
Wilco Nienaber | RSA |
-4 |
69 |
T14 |
Mikko Korhonen | FIN |
-5 |
70 |
T14 |
Bernd Wiesberger | AUT |
-2 |
67 |
T14 |
Erik Van Rooyen | RSA |
Par |
65 |
T14 |
Jack Singh-Brar | ENG |
-4 |
69 |
T23 |
Tapio Pulkkanen | FIN |
-3 |
69 |
T23 |
Ivan Cantero | ESP |
-5 |
71 |
T23 |
Kalle Samooja | FIN |
-2 |
68 |
T23 |
Ashley Chesters | ENG |
-4 |
70 |
T23 |
Sihwan Kim | KOR |
-4 |
70 |
T23 |
Jason Scrivener | AUS |
-1 |
67 |
T23 |
Zander Lombard | RSA |
-2 |
68 |
T23 |
Berry Henson | USA |
-4 |
70 |
T23 |
Daniel Gavins | ENG |
-5 |
71 |
T23 |
Kim Koivu | FIN |
Par |
66 |
T33 |
Romain Wattel | FRA |
-1 |
68 |
T33 |
Dean Burmester | RSA |
-3 |
70 |
T33 |
Tom Murray | ENG |
-3 |
70 |
T33 |
Haydn Porteous | RSA |
-2 |
69 |
T33 |
Gavin Green | MAS |
3 |
64 |
T33 |
Renato Paratore | ITA |
-4 |
71 |
T33 |
Alexander Bjoerk | SWE |
-4 |
71 |
T33 |
Nicolas Colsaerts | BEL |
-3 |
70 |
T33 |
John Catlin | USA |
-3 |
70 |
T33 |
Chris Hanson | ENG |
-2 |
69 |
T33 |
Scott Jamieson | SCO |
-5 |
72 |
T44 |
Masahiro Kawamura | JPN |
-4 |
72 |
T44 |
Matthew Southgate | ENG |
-2 |
70 |
T44 |
Dimitrios Papadatos | AUS |
-3 |
71 |
T44 |
Alexander Levy | FRA |
-2 |
70 |
T44 |
Chris Lloyd | ENG |
-2 |
70 |
T44 |
David Howell | ENG |
-1 |
69 |
T44 |
Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano | ESP |
-2 |
70 |
T51 |
Ricardo Melo Gouveia | POR |
-1 |
70 |
T51 |
Richie Ramsay | SCO |
-1 |
70 |
T51 |
Thomas Bjorn | DEN |
-1 |
70 |
T51 |
Robert MacIntyre | SCO |
Par |
69 |
T51 |
Darren Fichardt | RSA |
2 |
67 |
T51 |
Oliver Fisher | ENG |
Par |
69 |
T51 |
Stuart Manley | WAL |
-2 |
71 |
T51 |
Soo-Min Lee | KOR |
1 |
68 |
T51 |
Bradley Dredge | WAL |
-1 |
70 |
T51 |
Justin Walters | RSA |
-3 |
72 |
T51 |
Paul Waring | ENG |
-1 |
70 |
T51 |
Matthiam Keyser | RSA |
-2 |
71 |
T51 |
James Morrison | ENG |
-4 |
73 |
T51 |
Padraig Harrington | IRL |
-4 |
73 |
T51 |
Bryce Easton | RSA |
1 |
68 |
T51 |
Aaron Rai | ENG |
-3 |
72 |
T51 |
Liam Robinson | ENG |
-1 |
70 |
T51 |
Paul Dunne | IRL |
-1 |
70 |
T51 |
Ben Evans | ENG |
-3 |
72 |
T51 |
Espen Kofstad | NOR |
-5 |
74 |
T51 |
Jeff Winther | SWE |
Par |
69 |
CUT |
Anton Karlsson | SWE |
-1 |
71 |
CUT |
Callum Shinkwin | ENG |
4 |
66 |
CUT |
Eduardo De La Riva | ESP |
-1 |
71 |
CUT |
Gavin Moynihan | IRL |
-1 |
71 |
CUT |
Hyo-Won Park | KOR |
1 |
69 |
CUT |
Jamie Donaldson | WAL |
Par |
70 |
CUT |
Julian Suri | USA |
1 |
69 |
CUT |
Kristian Krogh Johannessen | NOR |
-1 |
71 |
CUT |
Lorenzo Gagli | ITA |
Par |
70 |
CUT |
Marcel Schneider | GER |
-1 |
71 |
CUT |
Pedro Oriol | ESP |
-2 |
72 |
CUT |
Stephen Gallacher | SCO |
Par |
70 |
CUT |
Jakub Bares | CZE |
1 |
70 |
CUT |
Joel Girrbach | SWE |
1 |
70 |
CUT |
Johannes Veerman | USA |
-1 |
72 |
CUT |
Josh Geary | NZL |
-6 |
77 |
CUT |
Lasse Jensen | DNK |
Par |
71 |
CUT |
Marc Warren | SCO |
Par |
71 |
CUT |
Nick Cullen | AUS |
-1 |
72 |
CUT |
Niklas Lemke | SWE |
-3 |
74 |
CUT |
Pep Angles | ESP |
2 |
69 |
CUT |
Per Laengfors | SWE |
-3 |
74 |
CUT |
Philipp Mejow | GER |
-1 |
72 |
CUT |
Ryan Evans | ENG |
2 |
69 |
CUT |
Soren Kjeldsen | DEN |
-2 |
73 |
CUT |
Steven Brown | ENG |
2 |
69 |
CUT |
Ales Korinek | CZE |
2 |
70 |
CUT |
Brett Rumford | AUS |
2 |
70 |
CUT |
David Horsey | ENG |
-2 |
74 |
CUT |
David Law | SCO |
Par |
72 |
CUT |
Eddie Pepperell | ENG |
-1 |
73 |
CUT |
Jeung-Hun Wang | KOR |
2 |
70 |
CUT |
Jonathan Thomson | ENG |
Par |
72 |
CUT |
Michal Pospisil | CZE |
-1 |
73 |
CUT |
Nick Mccarthy | ENG |
1 |
71 |
CUT |
Pavol Mach | SVK |
-1 |
73 |
CUT |
Stanislav Matus | CZE |
1 |
71 |
CUT |
Bernd Ritthammer | GER |
1 |
72 |
CUT |
Christopher Sahlstroem | SWE |
3 |
70 |
CUT |
David Borda | ESP |
1 |
72 |
CUT |
Deyen Lawson | AUS |
1 |
72 |
CUT |
Filip Mruzek | CZE |
Par |
73 |
CUT |
Filippo Bergamaschi | ITA |
Par |
73 |
CUT |
Jan Cafourek | CZE |
Par |
73 |
CUT |
Lee Westwood | ENG |
Par |
73 |
CUT |
Louis De Jager | RSA |
2 |
71 |
CUT |
Nino Bertasio | ITA |
2 |
71 |
CUT |
Adrian Otaegui | ESP |
-2 |
76 |
CUT |
Duncan Stewart | SCO |
2 |
72 |
CUT |
Ernie Els | RSA |
1 |
73 |
CUT |
Jens Dantorp | SWE |
4 |
70 |
CUT |
Alejandro Canizares | ESP |
3 |
72 |
CUT |
Christofer Blomstrand | SWE |
3 |
72 |
CUT |
George Coetzee | RSA |
2 |
73 |
CUT |
Marcel Siem | GER |
1 |
74 |
CUT |
Max Orrin | ENG |
-1 |
76 |
CUT |
Peter Valasek | SVK |
2 |
73 |
CUT |
Yi-Keun Chang | KOR |
3 |
72 |
CUT |
Daniel Suchan | CZE |
-2 |
78 |
CUT |
Gaganjeet Bhullar | IND |
3 |
73 |
CUT |
Jin-Ho Choi | KOR |
Par |
76 |
CUT |
Petr Gal Jr. | CZE |
1 |
75 |
CUT |
Sebastian Soederberg | SWE |
2 |
74 |
CUT |
Simon Zach | CZE |
2 |
74 |
CUT |
Brandon Stone | RSA |
4 |
73 |
CUT |
Max Schmitt | GER |
Par |
77 |
CUT |
Paul Peterson | USA |
3 |
74 |
CUT |
Raphael Jacquelin | FRA |
3 |
74 |
CUT |
Sam Brazel | AUS |
4 |
73 |
CUT |
Adrien Saddier | SCO |
5 |
73 |
CUT |
Filip Raza | CZE |
1 |
77 |
CUT |
Jarin Todd | USA |
1 |
77 |
CUT |
Lukas Tintera | CZE |
4 |
74 |
CUT |
Matteo Manassero | ITA |
4 |
74 |
CUT |
Scott Gregory | ENG |
4 |
74 |
CUT |
Grant Forrest | SCO |
4 |
75 |
CUT |
Jiri Zuska | CZE |
5 |
74 |
CUT |
Adam Bland | AUS |
7 |
73 |
CUT |
Matthieu Pavon | FRA |
5 |
76 |
CUT |
Aaron Leitmannstetter | GER |
9 |
73 |
CUT |
Pedro Figueiredo | POR |
4 |
79 |
CUT |
Stefan Palenik | SVK |
5 |
78 |
CUT |
Petr Hruby | CZE |
6 |
78 |
RET |
Austin Connelly | CAN |
-6 |
78 |
RET |
Tom Lewis | ENG |
-4 |
76 |