Wiesberger takes halfway lead in Denmark

The 35-year-old, winner of the 2019 contest, followed an opening-round 66 with seven birdies on day two in Denmark to sign for 65 at the Himmerland Golf & Spa Resort and move to 11 under, two ahead of fellow countryman Matthias Schwab.

Schwab, who produced a stunning par save on the last after driving into trees down the left and having to play out on to the wrong fairway signed for a 66, and is looking forward to partnering his compatriot in the final group on moving day.

Sweden’s Alexander Björk is third on eight under after a 63 which included the third hole-in-one of the week on the famous 16th hole dubbed Himmerland Hill.

Player Quotes

Bernd Wiesberger: “I didn’t start great. I had a little tricky putt on the first to save par and the everything kind of went my way. I holed a longer one on 11 and then chipped in on 13, which was my fourth hole and that really got things going. I had a couple of tap-ins on the following holes but there were chances everywhere. I scrambled well on 18 to keep bogey off the card. I felt decent. Bit disappointed with the finish today, felt like I could have gone a few deeper actually but my game was good and I’m happy with round two today.

“I’m feeling good. It was the second night after a long trip over to the East, which is always the worst. I slept really well on the first night after coming over from the States, Tuesday and Wednesday were pretty rough but since I’ve been alright. I’ve been trying to control the energy, I didn’t do much yesterday after the round, I went off to bed with an early start. I’m feeling good and hopefully ready for as good a weekend as the first two days.

“It’s Friday morning, just push on, push forward and hit good, decisive golf shots. Especially the way I played the front nine, which was my back nine today, I felt like there were a lot of chances coming up and I really tried to push forward and give myself a lot of looks. I didn’t do it quite as well as yesterday but it was good enough for a decent round today.”

Matthias Schwab: “I had the rights going with my driver on the back nine and I guess I just tried to overcorrect it with that tee shot and it went way left. I was blocked pretty much any direction except for the one going on the second hole, I didn’t even see the option, my caddie kind of discovered it and he paced off how far I could go. Hit a wedge up there and then 85 metres he paced it off again. He did some great work on this hole and it was nice to sink that putt.

“I made some nice putts, especially the one on the last. It is always nice to finish on a high so I hope I can take that into tomorrow.

“The start of the season has been good, some really solid top ten finishes, I have made every cut so far this year, which is something to be a little bit proud of so things are going ok.

“I think it will be nice to play with Bernd, it has been a while since we played together. I know him quite well, he knows me quite well, so it will be a fun round.”

Alexander Björk: “I feel like I have played pretty well the last couple of months, a lot better than the last two years so it feels like it is going in the right direction. I have been playing well but not scored to well, so the game is in good shape now and I just need to stay patient for the scores to come.

“It is a good position for me going into the weekend two shots behind Bernd and hopefully I can peg it back. I have probably played 40 competitive rounds on this course, it was always the final tournament on the Nordic Tour when I played it here, and I have played also on the Challenge Tour and a couple times on the European Tour, so I think I have played this course in any condition.”

Round Two Scores
131 B WIESBERGER (AUT) 66 65,
133 M SCHWAB (AUT) 67 66,
134 A BJ?RK (SWE) 71 63,
135 M KAWAMURA (JPN) 68 67, S GALLACHER (SCO) 71 64, J GEARY (NZL) 69 66, R BLAND (ENG) 66 69, P LARRAZ?BAL (ESP) 66 69,
136 M SCHMITT (GER) 70 66, N M?LLER (DEN) 69 67, A WU (CHN) 68 68, D WHITNELL (ENG) 68 68, J LAGERGREN (SWE) 73 63,
137 G MIGLIOZZI (ITA) 69 68, J SMITH (ENG) 70 67, R LANGASQUE (FRA) 69 68, P FIGUEIREDO (POR) 71 66, M KEYSER (RSA) 73 64, W BESSELING (NED) 68 69, J AXELSEN (DEN) 68 69, H PORTEOUS (RSA) 69 68, J FELTON (AUS) 70 67, L RUUSKA (FIN) 66 71, J SCRIVENER (AUS) 70 67, M PAVON (FRA) 71 66, S GARCIA RODRIGUEZ (ESP) 71 66, J GUERRIER (FRA) 69 68,
138 A MERONK (POL) 72 66, O FARR (WAL) 68 70, J CALDWELL (NIR) 67 71, L CANTER (ENG) 67 71, C HILL (SCO) 71 67, D PAPADATOS (AUS) 67 71, C PAISLEY (ENG) 69 69, T DETRY (BEL) 71 67, J LUITEN (NED) 68 70, T OLESEN (DEN) 68 70, A LEVY (FRA) 69 69, R FISHER (ENG) 68 70, Y CHANG (KOR) 66 72, A DEL REY (ESP) 72 66,
139 N H?JGAARD (DEN) 71 68, B STONE (RSA) 73 66, R MACINTYRE (SCO) 69 70, A SULLIVAN (ENG) 73 66, S SHARMA (IND) 70 69, S YONGCHAROENCHAI (THA) 70 69, M ARMITAGE (ENG) 70 69, T PULKKANEN (FIN) 72 67, G PORTEOUS (ENG) 71 68, E PEPPERELL (ENG) 72 67, J CAMPILLO (ESP) 71 68, K KITAYAMA (USA) 71 68, J WINTHER (DEN) 71 68, M LORENZO-VERA (FRA) 71 68, D LAW (SCO) 68 71, D HORSEY (ENG) 71 68,
140 S BROWN (ENG) 69 71, E DE LA RIVA (ESP) 70 70, A ARNAUS (ESP) 72 68, W ORMSBY (AUS) 71 69, L BJERREGAARD (DEN) 69 71, M HELLIGKILDE (DEN) 71 69, M LEE (AUS) 71 69, S SODERBERG (SWE) 75 65, R PARATORE (ITA) 69 71, T BJ?RN (DEN) 74 66, A OTAEGUI (ESP) 70 70, S KJELDSEN (DEN) 69 71, P BAEK (DEN) 70 70, C SHINKWIN (ENG) 69 71, N BERTASIO (ITA) 68 72, L GAGLI (ITA) 74 66,
141 A RAI (ENG) 72 69, M FORD (ENG) 73 68, C SYME (SCO) 72 69, R MCEVOY (ENG) 71 70, R FOX (NZL) 71 70, J SANDBORG (SWE) 70 71, P PETERSON (USA) 73 68, G HAVRET (FRA) 72 69, R SCIOT-SIEGRIST (FRA) 72 69, F LAPORTA (ITA) 69 72, P ANGLES (ESP) 69 72, M SIEM (GER) 70 71, B HEBERT (FRA) 72 69, M SOUTHGATE (ENG) 69 72, N ELVIRA (ESP) 71 70,
142 B EVANS (ENG) 74 68, N KEARNEY (IRL) 71 71, R H?JGAARD (DEN) 72 70, M SCHNEIDER (GER) 73 69, R ROCK (ENG) 72 70, A SADDIER (FRA) 73 69, M SIMONSEN (DEN) 69 73, L JENSEN (DEN) 72 70, A JOHNSTON (ENG) 73 69, K BROBERG (SWE) 71 71, N LEMKE (SWE) 71 71, E MOLINARI (ITA) 72 70, C PIGEM (ESP) 71 71,
143 G STORM (ENG) 73 70, R RAMSAY (SCO) 71 72, B RITTHAMMER (GER) 73 70, J HARDING (RSA) 74 69, G GREEN (MAS) 74 69, S HEISELE (GER) 71 72, M KIEFFER (GER) 73 70, M JORDAN (ENG) 73 70, J MORRISON (ENG) 73 70, A CA?IZARES (ESP) 73 70,
144 J VEERMAN (USA) 75 69, J SENIOR (ENG) 73 71, D HOWELL (ENG) 74 70, S KIM (USA) 75 69, G FDEZ-CASTA?O (ESP) 71 73, B POKE (DEN) 77 67, S HEND (AUS) 73 71, N VON DELLINGSHAUSEN (GER) 73 71, C WOOD (ENG) 70 74, R ROUSSEL (FRA) 71 73, T TREE (ENG) 70 74, L VAN MEIJEL (NED) 70 74,
145 J MCLEOD (AUS) 77 68, M KORHONEN (FIN) 75 70, M MADSEN (DEN) 73 72, A CHESTERS (ENG) 71 74, J SURI (USA) 75 70,
146 C SORDET (FRA) 77 69, A COCKERILL (CAN) 75 71, D COUPLAND (ENG) 77 69, S CROCKER (USA) 69 77, R KARLBERG (SWE) 71 75, S JAMIESON (SCO) 74 72, M ANTCLIFF (AUS) 75 71, C SHARVIN (NIR) 75 71,
147 J HANSEN (DEN) 76 71, J GONNET (FRA) 72 75, W NIENABER (RSA) 73 74, R ENOCH (WAL) 72 75,
148 L SLATTERY (ENG) 72 76,
149 D VAN DRIEL (NED) 75 74, P HANSON (SWE) 77 72, J STALTER (FRA) 76 73, T GANDY (IMN) 73 76, D DRYSDALE (SCO) 74 75, T SIMSBY (USA) 76 73, A GUEDRA (SWE) 77 72,
151 R MANSELL (ENG) 77 74,
152 H LI (CHN) 77 75,
154 L SCALISE (ITA) 77 77,
165 J KASKE (FIN) 84 81,
166 A PAVAN (ITA) 87 79,
**
OUT P DUNNE (IRL) 71 RT, A QUIROS (ESP) 79 RT, V DUBUISSON (FRA) 73 WD,