GUIDONIA MONTECELIO, Italy (AP) — Matthieu Pavon held onto the lead following the second round of the Italian Open on Friday as the Frenchman seeks his first European tour win on the course that will hold this year’s Ryder Cup.
Pavon shot a 1-under 70 which, when combined with his spectacular opening round of 8-under 63, gave him a two-stroke advantage over Julien Guerrier and Adrian Otaegui at the Marco Simone club outside Rome.
Pavon curled in a 57-foot putt on his final hole of the day at the par-5 9th.
“Hit it pretty close, made some birdies earlier on and that was great, but then I made some mistakes," Pavon said. “Nothing really big but when you miss something here it feels like it is really tough to get the up-and-down done, so I dropped a few shots.
“I was a bit tired in the end also after a poor night yesterday, so to finish my round under par today I am really happy."
Defending champion Robert Macintyre withdrew before the second round due to a back strain.
Shubhankar Sharma and Thirston Lawrence each shot aces. Sharma made his on the par-3 17th and Lawrence did it on in the par-3 7th.
From Sept. 29-Oct. 1, Marco Simone will become the third venue in continental Europe to host the Ryder Cup after Valderrama in Spain (1997) and Le Golf National in France (2018).
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