Laurie Canter fired a brilliant bogey-free round of 66 to take a three-shot lead into the weekend at the European Open.
The Englishman started a delayed day two four shots behind Jannik De Bruyn but in the fading light at Green Eagle Golf Courses moved to 12 under to lead the way from the overnight leader and Dane Niklas Nørgaard.
Nørgaard had set the target with a 68 before Canter’s surge up the leaderboard, while German De Bruyn battled back to a level par 73 having been four over at the turn.
England’s Garrick Porteous was at seven under with four holes to play, one of 20 players who will have to complete round two on Saturday morning following a three-hour delay to the start of day two due to a flooded course.
Canter is searching for his first DP World Tour win after securing four runner-up finishes since coming through the Qualifying School in 2015, 2016 and 2017.
He spent 2019 on the European Challenge Tour but broke through in the Covid-19 affected 2020 season, finishing second at the Portugal Masters and the Italian Open to finish in the top 20 on the Race to Dubai Rankings in Partnership with Rolex.
He arrived in Hamburg having finished in the top 10 at last week’s Soudal Open but decided to change all his irons ahead of teeing it up this week, a decision that appears to be paying dividends.
“I putted really well today, which was nice, and obviously my ball-striking was solid,” he said. “I think I hit every fairway today which is very important if you’re going to score well round here.
“I think I’m doing a lot of good things with my game, my short game has bailed me out a couple of times which was good to see.
“There’s such a long way to go. I’ve had leads before in tournaments and you can approach it one of two ways. I’m determined this weekend to go out and keep attacking the golf course as much as I can and play as well as I can. I don’t see any point in holding off.
“I think there is a low score in the 60s out there as the leader proved yesterday with a nine under, that was a phenomenal score but it shows it can be done so I think in the position I’m in, I’m going to try and keep my foot down.
“It’s golf so I’m expecting a few things to come my way but I have to approach it with a lot of positivity and don’t hold back at all for 36 holes and see where I end up. Although I’ve got a lead, I know the nature of golf and I don’t want to be playing negatively to any pin, I want to try and take it on for the rest of the week.”
After the delay, Nørgaard set the pace as he followed a smart tee-shot into the par-three 14th with a two-putt gain on the par-five next and a hole-out from the sand on the 18th.
A lengthy putt on the 1st was followed by a bogey but the 32-year-old put an approach to 12 feet on the 3rd and almost holed his second for eagle on the 7th to lead the rest of the early wave by three shots.
Canter set about reeling him in, however, hitting smart irons into the 10th and 14th before putting a stunning second to six feet at the 15th for an eagle to join the lead.
He holed from off the green for a birdie on the 18th and added another with a 31-foot putt on the 1st, stretching his lead further after laying up on the par-five 4th.
De Bruyn bogeyed the 10th but hit back with a gain from tap-in range on the 13th before bogeying four of the next five to turn in 42 and tumble down the leaderboard.
A tee-shot to six feet on the 2nd then proved the springboard for a recovery as he made a two-putt gain on the 4th, a birdie from 14 feet on the 7th and took advantage of the par-five 9th with a pitch to five feet.
Starting on the 10th, Porteous picked up shots on four of the five par-fives he had played so far, while also making a bogey on the 1st.
Defending champion Tom McKibbin fired a 71 to sit six shots off the lead alongside Japan’s Yuto Katsuragawa, Spaniard Pablo Larrazábal, Italy’s Guido Migliozzi and South African Jayden Schaper.
– Report from DP World Tour website
