David Ravetto sailed into the D+D REAL Czech Masters lead as a sizzling nine under par 63 saw him move one stroke clear at PGA National OAKS Prague.
Related: Final-stretch flourish pays Pieter Moolman in Czechia
The Frenchman signed off with a closing birdie on the par five ninth – his last – to reach 13 under par and tie the course record, which was set earlier in the day by England’s Andrew Johnston, who shares second place with Scotland’s Richie Ramsay and Swede Jesper Svensson.
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The 27-year-old, playing in the last group of the day from the tenth, made birdies at the 11th, 13th and 16th to make the turn at three under, before putting his foot down when he embarked on the front nine.
He started with back-to-back gains as he continued to ascend the leaderboard, with further birdies at the fourth and sixth moving him into a four-way tie at 12 under par.
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Aiming to carry the left-hand bunker at the par five ninth hole, the reigning Dimension Data Pro-Am champion pulled his tee shot slightly left as he found the native area which runs down the side of the hole.
The Qualifying School graduate then hit a superb second shot from 272 yards to the back of the green before chipping on and holing a ninth and final birdie of the day to seize the advantage heading into the weekend.
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The trio sharing second are one stroke clear of Norway’s Espen Kofstad and Englishman Brandon Robinson-Thompson on 11 under par, with England’s Ross Fisher, Scotsman Connor Syme and Austria’s Bernd Wiesberger one shot further back in a tie for seventh.
A low scoring day in the Czech capital saw the course record equalled for a second time, with PGA TOUR winner Kevin Chappell carding a blemish-free 63.
The third round of the D+D REAL Czech Masters will be a two-tee start U draw due to forecasted adverse weather, with the final tee time being 9:30am local time.
Player quotes
David Ravetto: “I feel really good. I was super happy at the beginning of the week to come back and play tournament golf after a nice break for holiday. I’ve been playing really good the last few weeks practising and today was just a perfect round. The putts fell in and I couldn’t ask for more.
“Good start of the round, I guess the back nine is I guess a bit tougher than the front nine. I was four under yesterday, should have been comfortable for the cut, but you know, Fridays are always a bit tougher. I started really well, holed a nice put on 11 and saved a really nice par on 12. My run was going and then I just kept on going.”
Jesper Svensson: “It’s been great, a great first two days and I’m happy to be in a good position for the weekend.
“Feels great to be in contention again. It’s been a few tournaments now where you’re struggling, you’re on the cut line fighting for that, so now it feels a little bit better fighting for the win.”
Andrew Johnston: “I mean, it’s such a strange game, isn’t it? We’ve had a break, but the weeks before I’ve played well and holed absolutely nothing. And then obviously everything’s gone in today and that’s just it. Just sums up golf.
“I think that that run of five weeks was really to get back into the routine of every week, get some conditioning and having a break’s been quite good and coming out and feeling fresh and making a few adjustments has been good and I’m looking forward to this long run coming up.”
Richie Ramsay: “I’m definitely no spring chicken. I would say I’m more towards the autumn of my career, but you know, I still love doing what I do. I like getting up in the morning. I like going to the gym. I like playing competitive matches. I like the grind of the practice. I still love that. I had a little quote, it was: It’s not the pursuit of happiness, it’s the happiness in the pursuit. I wrote it down and I’ve just got to always remember that because I do love going out and playing there.”
