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English rookie leads in Estoril

31/03/2007

English amateur champion Ross McGowan holds a two-shot lead at the halfway stage of the Portuguese Open, heading the field with a score of six-under-par.

Despite playing in only his second European Tour event McGowan showed great consistency in tricky conditions on his way to his second consecutive round of 68, allowing him to claim the tournament lead.

Fellow Englishman Nick Doherty is close behind him on four-under for the tournament after his round of 69 solidified his position towards the top of the leaderboard.

McGowan had gone round in level par before making a string of birdies at the sixth, seventh and ninth holes. He picked up another shot at the 13th only to drop it at the very next hole.

However, the rookie was pleased with his day's work and said he would try and take the rest of the tournament one shot at a time.

He explained: "This is new territory for me, so we'll see how it goes. I led a few times after 36 holes in the amateur ranks but it's different in the pros. I was joint leader at a couple of professional events over the winter in South Africa but didn't finish all that strongly."

Overnight leader Simon Dyson slipped down the leaderboard with a three-over-par round, while defending champion Paul Broadhurst is still in contention at two-under-par.

Broadhurst is bidding to win the title for a third consecutive season and despite carding a patchy level par round on day two he remains in touch with the leaders.

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