Rikard Karlberg shot a four-under 68 today and leads the M2M Russian Open by two shots as they head into the weekend at the halfway point of the tournament. The European Tour is making its return to Russia for the first time in five years holding the M2M Russian Open at the stunning Tseleevo Golf and Polo Club.
Karlberg shot a five-under 67 yesterday after he bogeyed the opening two holes but recovered with five birdies and an eagle on the long eighth. He shared the opening round lead with England’s Simon Dyson and China’s Wen-Chong Liang.
Today, Karlberg started on the back nine and went to work right away opening with a birdie on the Par-4 10th, adding three more birdies before his first bogey at the Par-4 18th, a hole he birdied to close his round yesterday.
He would make another bogey on the Par-4 fifth hole and at that moment was in a share of the lead with then clubhouse leaders Wen-Chong Liang and Matthew Baldwin. But he birdied two of his next three holes to take two shot lead for good.
The 26-year-old native of Gothenburg, Sweden, is looking for his first win on the European Tour since he turned pro in 2006. His best finish-to-date had been a third place in the 2011 in the Barclays Singapore Open.
Yesterday, overnight co-leader Liang, whose only European Tour title came six years ago, bogeyed the 12th but had six birdies. Today, he started on the back nine and started with a bogey on his opening hole, but then birdied 11th and 16th to climb back on top of the leaderboard.
Liang would add two birdies and a bogey on his back nine for his two-under 70 today, good for a share of second with Baldwin, Alexandre Kaleka and Michael Hoey. The 34-year-old Liang is showing good form this year; he had not posted a Top 10 finish in more than two years prior to finishing third in India and Austria this season.
Baldwin, a 27-year-old Englishman, started the day one shot behind the co-leaders along with James Morrison, Alessandro Tadini and Javier Colomo.
He started on the back nine today and played it with a bogey-free 33. He would then bogey holes No. 3 and 5, but clawed his way back with a birdie on No. 6 and a closing birdie on the 9th gave him then a share of the lead with Liang, before Karlberg overtook both.
Baldwin is looking for his first European Tour win. His lone professional win came in the 2011 Fred Olsen Challenge de España on the Challenge Tour.
France’s Kaleka and Northern Ireland’s Hoey, both shot rounds of five-under 67, just one shy of the day’s low round by English Amateur Jack Singh Brar. They both started the day T-14th at two-under par and were two of the big movers today, up 12 slots on the leaderboard.
Kaleka shot shot seven birdies today and his only blemish came on the Par-4 12th which he double-bogeyed, just like he did on yesterday’s opening round. Hoey was flawless with five birdies through 11 holes, but then alternated bogeys and birdies for the next six holes, stalling his move forward.
Kaleka is a two-time Challenge Tour winner, while Hoey was the 2001 British Amateur Champion and has won four times on the European Tour and equal number of time on the Challenge Tour.
Rounding up the Top 10 were: Mark Foster (solo sixth, six-under); Scott Hend, James Morrison, Matthew Nixon and Mikko Korhonen (T-7th, five under).
England’s Simon Dyson, the other co-overnight leader, started on the back nine today and made a bogey on the Par-4 12th but got back on track after consecutive birdies on the 14th and 15th holes.
But a double bogey seven at the Par-5 17th and a bogey on the Par-4 18th, took the 35-year-old, six-time European Tour winner to two-over after finishing his first nine holes. He would open his final nine with a birdie, but another bogey on the sixth hole dropped him back to two-over for the day and is currently T-12th at three-under.
Former World No. 1 tennis player and two-time Grand Slam champion, Russia’s Yevgeny Kafelnikov, missed the cut placing 105th shooting 19-over (81-82, 163).