Lucas Bjerregaard topped the Danish Golf Championship leaderboard on Saturday morning as the second round came to an end.
Play was suspended Friday afternoon because of wind gusts reaching 46 mph, and when the Dane returned to complete the final 10 holes he was three shots behind the leader at two under par, and when play resumed he had to putt out on the ninth hole.
He finished the back nine at five under, with three straight birdies starting at hole 10. The two-time DP World Tour champion took a commanding lead after another birdie on hole 15, then extended his lead again on the next hole to finish at six under and seven under overall.
“I played pretty good, hit some good shots early on the back nine. Three birdies there, kept me away from … not necessarily thinking about the cut, just gave me a nice cushion,” he said. “The last four holes were pretty brutal. So that was great. I was playing well all the way.”
“I hit my second shot on 18 and the whole crowd applauded me, which was amazing. It felt great. I haven't played in a while, so I tried to take it all in. That's why it's so special for us Danes to play here. This tournament has always had great support. It was great to see so many people come out today in better weather after they had to move around yesterday.”
Lucas Bjerregaard holds 36-hole lead at home ✍️#DenmarkGolf
— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) August 24, 2024
Bjerregard leads by two shots over seven other players on five-under, including his compatriot and this week’s defending champion Rasmus Højgaard and Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen, who currently tops the Challenge Tour’s Road to Mallorca rankings.
Hoijgaard led by two shots in the second round and finished at eight under after two early birdies at holes four and five. However, the 23-year-old dropped shots on holes eight, ten and eleven and made a tricky bogey putt at the twelfth, and play was suspended in the afternoon.
He lost another stroke on the 15th hole but made consecutive birdies on the 16th and 17th holes to get back to five under.
“I think (the breakthrough came at the right time),” he said. “I was probably in a very, very bad condition yesterday. I didn’t feel good at all. When the horn sounded, I was happy and angry at the same time, but it was nice to be out in good conditions this morning.”
Also tied for second were the French trio of Julian Guerrier, Romain Lagansque and Adrian Saddier and Briton Eddie Pepperell.
Bjerregaard and Neergaard-Petersen will play in the final group with Saddier this afternoon.
