Callum Tarren leads by two shots at the halfway stage of the Bapco Energies Bahrain Championship after battling back from a slow start to post a superb second-round 67.
The Englishman went into the second round on eight under par after firing a flawless 64 on Thursday but was unable to keep the bogeys off his card in the early stages on Friday afternoon.
After dropping a shot at the opening hole, Tarren made another bogey on the 4th to slip even further off the pace.
But he bounced back in style, carding four birdies in his next five holes to turn in 34 blows.
And the birdies kept coming on the back nine as Tarren picked up shots at the 11th, 13th and 14th to head into Saturday’s third round on 13 under par.
Tarren’s nearest challengers were Italy’s Andrea Pavan and England’s Dan Brown on 11 under, with Pablo Larrazábal another shot further back after making a memorable hole-in-one at the second.
DP World Tour legend, Pablo Larrazabal, made an ace today on his way to a 4 under 68, to get within 1 at the Bapco Energies Bahrain Championship. What a player! 🔥🇪🇸@plarrazabal
— Flushing It (@flushingitgolf) January 31, 2025
South African Jacques Kruyswijk is five under (T19) after carding 68, with five birdies and a bogey.
Pavan held the early clubhouse lead after the morning starter notched eight birdies and a single bogey, while Brown also shot a seven-under-par 65 in the afternoon.
Tarren started the day three shots off the lead before falling further behind with an opening bogey.
Another bogey followed at the 4th before Tarren responded with back-to-back tap-in birdies at the 5th and 6th, which came courtesy of two delightful approach shots.
After safely parring the short 7th, the 34-year-old holed his 22-foot birdie effort on the 8th before closing the front nine with a seven-foot birdie to sit one shot off the summit at the turn.
Tarren joined the lead on 11 under with a three-foot birdie at the 11th before taking advantage of the back nine’s two par fives, the 13th and 14th, to move two shots clear at the summit.
Those two birdies were followed by battling pars at the 15th and 16th as Tarren held on to his two-stroke cushion.
And although he gave himself chances to stretch his advantage on the 17th and 18th, he settled for pars there to sign for a 67.
“I got off to a shaky start today, but I knew I was playing good golf so I just stayed patient,” Tarren said. “A few bounce-back birdies, and I played really solid again. So just more of that and see what happens.
“I misjudged the wind on one, got it riding the wind and hit it up against the fence. I could hit it but it was against a rock so didn’t want to risk that. I just said, ‘ride this tough start’, but plenty of chances out there. Managed to capitalise on a few good shots.
“There were a couple in the middle of the round where I hit it to two feet and a foot with nine iron and a wedge.
“A couple of good saves coming in, a couple of good putts. The par save on 16, that keeps the momentum going.
“Shame about the last [missed birdie chance] but I’m ready to tackle the weekend.
“I’ve got to keep the foot to the floor because the course will yield birdies to the guys behind me. Just keep doing what I’m doing, stay patient.
“I feel very relaxed this week for some reason, I don’t know why. I just feel super chilled, so hopefully that’s a good omen.”
– Edited report from DP World Tour website
Photo: Warren Little/Getty Images
