Adilson da Silva
Da Silva held a share of the overnight lead after an opening round of 64, and despite the early starters making headway on a soft golf course with little wind to protect it – the man in front would not have such each going on the Golf Club Bad Ragaz in the final group.
“The wind was a little less today, but it was swirling everywhere. The trees down the fairway make it so hard to get there exactly where the wind is coming from. It was hard to get the right stick and I found the greens a little bit tricky as well – I just couldn’t get it going on the greens.
“It is always nice to be in the lead, I’ll just go into tomorrow’s round, and I am going to try to just do whatever I’ve been doing. Today I had to have a lot of patience because I started well and then it just went downhill – sometimes it’s hard to hang in there.
“So many great players are there right behind me, so I am going to have to play well in the final round.”
Andrew Marshall
Andrew Marshall sits alongside Da Silva at the top of the leaderboard after back-to-back rounds of 66 this week – with a borrowed set of clubs too for the opening day! Marshall’s own clubs were delayed in transit to Switzerland and only arrived after he finished his opening 18 holes, but he managed to match the score on day two with his own clubs in hand.
Marshall is a graduate of the 2024 Legends Tour Q-School, where he claimed the fifth and final card for this season: “I think the putter has been the biggest, contributor to that score! My clubs didn’t arrive yesterday until after I had finished playing, so I borrowed a set from Moritz in the club shop here – he’s quite a good player, but they’re a bit long in the neck and don’t really suit me. So, I was hitting a lot of thin shots and a bit left as well, but the three wood was quite a good club and I did hit that straight down the fairway. I got a putter from Simon Griffiths, a mallet one and I’ve played as well with that as I have since I was a kid! As I walked off the last yesterday, the guy was there with my clubs!
“For me with my clubs back it was like a long-lost lover’s reunion for like five minutes. Then, on the first hole today – I hit a lovely rescue down the middle, but with my iron shot I chunked it, and I was thinking ‘this is brilliant – I’ve got my own clubs, and I can’t even get the club on the ball!’ but after that I played lovely, steady golf.
“I was talking with Joakim Haegmann, who I played with, saying that he tried so hard yesterday and shot 75, while I was just happy to have some clubs to use and I ‘ve cobbled it round in 66 – so there’s got to be something in that. If I can have a chance with six or seven holes to go tomorrow, then I’ll be more than happy to take that.”
Jarmo Sandelin
Jarmo Sandelin had the best round from the early starters on day two. He would record an unblemished six-under-par 64 to propel him towards the top of the leaderboard.
The former Ryder Cup player and five-times winner on the DP World Tour is feeling good about his game right now: “When this course is softer, it’s a little bit easier to score but we still need to make the putts. I strike the ball quite low, so that helps me with these softer greens especially and how I will land on the greens. My putter feels better and better with every week that goes by – now we are in a good run of tournaments and I’m very pleased.”
Sandelin finished 11th here last year and 10th the year before – on a golf course which is one which allows him to feel as settled as he can with his game: “I feel confident, but I am also a player that plays up and down. So, I can score 64 today or sometimes I score much higher. I play with emotions even though I try to keep myself calm and play one shot at the time. I have a good track record here. I’m looking forward to tomorrow and to try to play the same shots as I did today. No more, no less.”
The Swede’s only previous win on the Legends Tour came at the 2019 MCB Tour Championship in Mauritius, now he’s focussed on getting his hands on another title: “That was a while ago now, but I’ve been around for so long on Tour that I know what I need to do. I will try to prepare the same way that I did last night and then we’ll see.
To win here would be a sign that I’m back where I’m supposed to be, having a chance to win tournaments. I’m putting a lot of time into my game now, there have been reasons why I haven’t been playing that well, but now I put time into the putting, into my ball striking and I still put a lot of time into my short game too.”
Chasing pack
Bradley Dredge would record back-to-back rounds of 67 to get to six-under-par through 36 holes, a score matched by Thomas Levet who backed up his opening round of 68 with a second round 66. The Frenchman had an impressive back nine which featured five birdies – including three in his final four holes: “It is a course where it is difficult to judge your second shots because the greens are soft, sometimes they spin and sometimes they don’t. So, I was happy with that round of 66, I’m happy with my game. I’ve been playing solid since Greece and my scores have reflected that. I think that is my sixth round in a row under 70, so it starts to be where you can see a pattern forming.
“When you tee off here, you think ‘I can shoot a low score’, but there are so many little tricks on the golf course and the greens are not easy to read, so it’s never that easy!
“My confidence right now is high. I found form again with my driver, which was the problem I have had for the last year-and-a-half, my driver was gone and my Achilles was hurting. I couldn’t really practice and so I couldn’t play that much – that reflected my last season. This year, I’ve had no injuries, and I can practice again. I’ve found confidence in my driving again, so I am in a better position and the rest of my game is solid. When you start shooting low scores a lot, confidence builds – which is happening now.
“Even if I’m four or five maybe six shots behind, I will think I can do it and win this tournament. I’m back in the hunt and that is the main thing, I’m back in the top ten as well. When you have the lead, it is never easy to win a tournament – so I could come back from four, five or six behind and win. You never know here on this golf course, a 59 or 60 is possible if you putt well – it really is possible, under pressure anything can happen.”
Overnight co-leader James Kingston endured a bad day in Bad Ragaz where he would card four birdies, but also three bogeys and a double-bogey too. His one-over-par round of 71 would see him drop back down into the chasing pack on five-under-par for the final day. He is joined on that scoreline by Scotland’s Euan McIntosh who signed for a Saturday 69 after his opening day 65 as well as Joyoti Randhawa and Emanuele Canonica.
The 2023 winner of the MCB Road to Mauritius, Peter Baker, would improve from his level-par opener on Friday with a round of 66 to push him into a three-way tie on -4 alongside Greig Hutcheon and Miguel Angel Martin.
The final round of the Swiss Seniors Open at Golf Club Bad Ragaz gets underway on Sunday morning with 16 players within five shots of the lead.
See the story of round 2 here:
