It was another day of birdies and eagles in the Swiss mountains, which has produced a low-scoring leaderboard with a truly international feel, with eight nationalities and four continents represented in the top 11 players heading into the final day.
Acosta sits at the summit courtesy of rounds of 65 and today’s joint best-of-the-week 62. The Argentinian is impressively yet to drop a shot this week and has birdied 12 of the 18 holes at Bad Ragaz, circling red number on 3, 4, 7, 8, 11, 12, 15 and 17 in round two.
“I played without much confidence on the first few holes on Friday and I was a little nervous because I didn’t play well in the last tournament,” he admitted. “But I felt more confidence and played better from hole six (his first birdie in round one). The putter was the key to my score today. I’m feeling very confident with the putter.
“For tomorrow, I’m trying to stay relaxed and take confidence from my scores the first two days. I work and practice every day to be able to shoot scores like this and build my confidence. I’m very happy with my score and the position I’m in.”
Acosta played the majority of his career on the PGA Tour Latinoamerica in South America and earned his place on the Legends Tour at Qualifying School in January. He started this season with a T57 at the Riegler and Partner Legends, a T49 at the Jersey Legends and a 58th at the Irish Legends.
Order of Merit number one Adilson da Silva is lurking a shot behind after he also signed for a bogey-free 62. The Brazilian had three birdies in a row from the 2nd and played the back nine in just 30 strokes to climb to -12. He’s already shown a liking for tree-lined courses this year with his win at the Riegler and Partner Legends in Austria.
First round leader Thomas Gögele got off to a slow start with a bogey at 1 and a double bogey at 5, but he had a superb run in the back nine with four birdies and his second successive eagle at 16 in a six-hole stretch from the 11th to recover for a 68 and a -10 total.
Emphatic Irish Legends winner Peter Baker is also well-positioned on -9. He signed for a 66 today and will be hoping for a big finish to re-take top spot in the Order of Merit from Da Silva. Fellow former Ryder Cup player Jarmo Sandelin is alongside him in tied-4th after a 67 that included an eagle at 16.
Defending champion James Kingston is -8 after he hauled himself back into contention with a 64 that included eight birdies. He’s bogeyed the 5th and 14th on both days, but he’ll have a chance to retain the title if he can cut out those errors on Sunday.
