Cockerill charges.. Pavon Leads at Spanish Open.. Friday results

 DP World Tour : Spanish Open Leaderboard

Matthieu Pavon was eager to maintain momentum after a big finish saw him keep hold of the lead heading into the weekend at the acciona Open de España presented by Madrid.

The Frenchman started 64-68 12 months ago at Club de Campo Villa de Madrid en route to a runner-up finish and has gone 63-68 this week to lead the way at 11 under.

For a long time it looked like Pavon would surrender his one-shot overnight cushion on day two but he birdied four of his last six holes to maintain that slender advantage over Dutchman Wil Besseling and India's Shubhankar Sharma.

Home favourite Alfredo Garcia-Heredia was then at nine under alongside Frenchman Mike Lorenzo-Vera, one shot clear of England's Nathan Kimsey, with 11 players four shots off the lead.

"I'll just stick to my plan," he said. "You can have a lot of opportunities out here, it's just about staying patient and waiting for some putts to drop and then trying to catch the good momentum on the par fives.

"It looks like it's really a place that suits my game. I have a lot of memories from last year so I really feel comfortable on the course. I see shots quickly with the yardages I've got

Sharma bogeyed the third but a sand save on the fourth and approaches inside 15 feet on the fifth and eighth saw him turn in 34.

A second bogey of the day on the tenth was followed by an excellent tee-shot on the par-three 11th and he holed from long-range on the 13th, made the most of the par-five 14th and hit a smart approach into the last in a second consecutive 66.

Garcia-Heredia was bogey-free in an excellent 64, while Lorenzo-Vera had a roller coaster of a 68 with an eagle, four birdies and three bogeys.

Kimsey also had an eagle, four birdies and three bogeys in a 68 of his own to sit a shot ahead of France's Julien Guerrier, who carded the lowest round of the day with a 63.

Guerrier's fellow Frenchmen Romain Langasque and Antoine Rozner, local favourite Alejandro del Rey, Scot Grant Forrest, Italian Edoardo Molinari, England's John Parry and Eddie Pepperell, German Marcel Siem, Dane Martin Simonsen and Paraguayan Fabrizio Zanotti were also seven under.

edit***** Canada's Aaron Cockerill overcame at bogey, double bogey +2 37 playing the course backwards, with a 4 birdie no bogey closing 9 -2 69 -5 total T24..

As such he is within 6 shots of the lead, but more important is in line with a solid weekend to have a top 20 finish his best in the 2nd half of 2023...

europeantour.com

Bryan Angus (edit)