Nacho Elvira will take a one-shot lead into the weekend at the Soudal Open after consecutive rounds of 64 in Antwerp.
Related: Late flurry gives rookie James the advantage in Belgium
The Spaniard went bogey-free over the opening two days to get to 14 under par as he chases a second DP World Tour title, taking advantage of the morning conditions on Friday before rain set in at Rinkven International Golf Club.
Starting from the 10th, Elvira made gains on the 12th, 14th, 16th and 18th to turn in 31, while a flurry of birdies from the third to fifth took him to the top of the leaderboard as he aims to add to the Cazoo Open title he claimed in 2021.
Former European Ryder Cup player Ross Fisher leapt into contention with a bogey-free round of his own, reaching 13 under after an eight under par 63 for his lowest DP World Tour round in over two years.
View this post on Instagram
Frenchman Romain Langasque is then at 11 under, also keeping a clean card in his round of 67, with Dane Niklas Nørgaard, Andrew Wilson of England, Canadian Aaron Cockerill and overnight leader Sam Jones of New Zealand a shot further back.
Thomas Pieters remains the leading Belgian, delighting the home fans with a five under par 66 that included an eagle on the par four 13th, to sit alongside English pair Matt Baldwin and Joe Dean at nine under.
Player Quotes
Nacho Elvira: It was quite similar to yesterday, I played consistent and putted really well, extremely happy.
It’s a course I like, it suits my eye off the tee a bit better than other courses. And I’m lucky enough to be putting well, so hopefully I can take advantage of that.
Thank God it’s not raining and windy, it’s only raining. It’s not pleasant to be playing under the rain and it looks like it’s getting darker so I don’t know how the afternoon will play, but I’m happy to be done.
Ross Fisher: It was a great day. We were lucky with the weather. We got nine holes of decent weather, no breeze, no rain.
Good to go bogey-free. Played nicely yesterday, had to hole one putt for par from maybe ten feet as I was out of position from the tee. Barring that I’ve played steady, hit it well off the tee, some nice shots into the greens.
It’s nice to see all the hard work pay off on the greens. That’s 13 birdies and no bogeys, hopefully continue on the weekend.
Romain Langasque: Happy actually because the last nine was a bit tougher than what I had did before. I didn’t make any bogeys, which was great. The weather was a bit tougher at the end, so happy with the result today.
It was very good the first 12 holes then we had some rain on the last six. The ball was flying less and it was a bit different on the greens. My long game wasn’t as good as yesterday, so I had to chip and putt a bit more and I did it well.
The last few weeks I’ve been in good positions many times and has been so-so after that. I know I have been in this position before and I will try to be focused on myself and what I can do to perform. That will be my main objective for the weekend.
Thomas Pieters: Morning was quite easy, no wind, no rain. All of us took advantage of that. We made some birdies early. I holed one on 13 from the fairway, which doesn’t happen a lot, but it’s always nice. Very pleased with my day.
The course is playing perfect, it’s just hard to control the spin (in the rain). There are loads of wedges on this golf course. My caddie and I were trying to figure out what number we would leave ourselves just because of spin, so I think that’s the toughest thing.
It’s fantastic, this is why I play golf. Seeing these young kids look at me the way they do. It’s cool and it’s rewarding, and that’s why I practice.
