Saint-Quentin-En-Yvelines (France), Sep 23 (PTI) Manu Gandas had another rough day at the Cazoo Open de France, missing the halfway cut following a second round of 76 after a 75 on the opening day.
Gandas has been having mixed luck as he tries to gain experience in as many events in Europe as possible in his rookie year on the DP World Tour.
On both days, Gandas had just one birdie. He had five bogeys on the first day and six on the second.
Jordan Smith grabbed a three-stroke lead at the halfway stage following a seven-under par 64 on day two at Le Golf National.
The Englishman birdied five of his first six holes to hit the front and then tackled the tough back nine in 33 to get to 12-under and take control.
Scotland’s Ewen Ferguson recovered from an opening double bogey to move to nine-under, two shots clear of local favourite Julien Brun, Japan’s Ryo Hisatsune, Dane Rasmus Højgaard, South African Zander Lombard, England’s Richard Mansell and German Yannik Paul.
Two-time DP World Tour winner Smith, whose most recent triumph came at the 2022 Portugal Masters, currently sits 38th on the Race to Dubai Rankings and will be looking for an improvement on his best finishes of the season, which has been tied sixth places at the ISPS HANDA Championship and the Porsche European Open.
The second day of the Cazoo Open de France marked the end of two distinguished DP World Tour careers, with England’s Graeme Storm and Frenchman Raphaël Jacquelin missing the cut and bringing the curtain down on their respective careers in front of their family and friends.
Storm, 45, opted to retire this week on his 500th DP World Tour start at the scene of his maiden victory in 2007, while an emotional Jacquelin bowed out at his national open before making the transition to over-50s golf next year.
Source: PTI News
