It was another incredibly blustery day at Golf Almerimar, but 17 players were able to break par in round two, including Lawrie and Archer, who shot 69 and 70 respectively. But the leaderboard remains extremely bunched behind them with 11 players within four shots of top spot going into the final round, including four players from the top-10 of the MCB Road to Mauritius.
Former Open champion Lawrie is the only player in the field to shoot two rounds in the 60s and he eagled the par-5 18th for the second successive day to jump into a share of the lead. It had been a bit of a mixed bag prior to that spectacular finish, as he made birdies at 2, 9, 10 and 15, and bogeys at 3, 4 and 11.
The Scot will be hoping to avenge a couple of near misses in his previous two Legends Tour starts. He was leading going into the final round at the OFX Irish Legends and the Staysure PGA Seniors Championship hosted by Colin Montgomerie, but had to settle for tied-3rd and 2nd place finishes respectively.
“It was another really tough day out there,” said the three-time Legends Tour winner. “You’re just battling on every hole – even downwind is not that much easier than into the wind. Conditions have been like that the last couple of days, so to come out of that with two three-unders is really good. I played really nicely yesterday, but today was a little bit of a scramble, to be honest. And then a lovely shot at the last and an eagle.”
Lawrie knows attitude is vital in tough, windy conditions: “The biggest thing is accepting what it is. You’ve got to get the mindset right. You’ve got to get the attitude right. I’m not criticizing other players, but a lot of players see it and go, ‘Well, I’m not sure I fancy that today.’ So you’ve got to be the opposite. You’ve got to love it. I see it as you just get on with it. You put the ball back in your stance, you take a couple of clubs more and you hit it softer. I mean it’s not as easy as that, but that’s in my mind, that’s how I see it.”
He’s obviously eager to get his hands on a fourth Legends Tour trophy after his close calls in Ireland and Scotland: “If you play golf long enough, these sort of things are going to happen, but I finished 2nd (at the Staysure PGA). It was still a good week, even though I was proper raging in the car going home. You know, you go through these things because even though I’m 55 and I don’t play much, I’m still competitive. I still want to win. And when you should win and it doesn’t happen, man, you should be unhappy. So I was proper unhappy. But here we are, and we’ve got a chance. Let’s see if we can put it right tomorrow.”
Archer was also tied for the lead after round one, and he maintained his position with an impressive bogey-free round of 70 that included red numbers on two of the par-5s – the 2nd and 10th holes. His one bogey through two rounds – on the 7th hole in the first round – in the strongest winds the players have battled all year is an incredible effort as he looks to secure a maiden Legends Tour win.
“I played lovely,” said Archer. “You’ve got to hole a lot of three-footers to keep it going. But I had 15 greens in regulation out there, so it’s a lot of chances. I made a couple of good up-and-downs. So yeah, very pleased with keeping a bogey off the card.
“I’ve been in this position before and hopefully I learn from it. I’m playing with Paul Lawrie and Adilson da Silva tomorrow and they are obviously great players and in form, so I’m not I’m not thinking anything stupid is going to happen. I’ve got to play well. I am playing well, so there’s no reason why I can’t keep doing what I’m doing and give myself a chance down the stretch. This is why I came back playing after a long break. It’s the competition, the competitive edge. So yeah, very excited to be in the mix and hopefully I’ll be in there coming down the stretch tomorrow.”
Lurking just one shot behind them is six-time Legends Tour winner Adilson da Silva and Scotland’s Euan McIntosh. Da Silva signed for a joint-best-of-the-week 68 with a birdie-birdie finish, and McIntosh had four birdies and two bogeys in his 70.
The other overnight leader Greg Owen had a level-par 72 to sit in a tie for 5th alongside Keith Horne, who won the Zambia Golf Legends Championship just under a month ago. The English trio of Paul Streeter, Andrew Raitt and Andrew Marshall are -3, with MCB Road to Mauritius number two and reigning Order of Merit number one Peter Baker tied-10th at -2.
Click here to see the full leaderboard and final round tee times, and to find out more about the European Legends Cup at Golf Almerimar, Andalucia, Spain.
