Sweden’s Carl Pettersson extended his overnight lead to six shots after four holes of his second round today before every player was called off the course again due to the high winds which have plagued the Portuguese Open.
The Swede picked up birdies at the second and the fourth, moving to eight-under, and stands out from a field which clearly struggled to get to grips with the conditions. At present only 10 players have managed to break par.
"Players were having difficulty keeping their golf balls on a tee-peg on the 11th, so the tournament director Mikael Eriksson was left with no alternative than to bring all the players back to the clubhouse," said European Tour press officer Scott Crockett.
Five players make up the chasing pack in a share for second. They are England’s Gary Evans and David Gilford, Bradley Dredge from Wales, Scotland’s Alastair Forsyth and Mikko Ilonen from Finland. All have managed only five holes or less of the their second round.
The Irish fared no better in the inclement weather with Des Smyth best placed after today’s 74 and was probably glad to reach the sanctuary of the clubhouse. At five-over, and currently tied for 55th, Smyth is still likely to make the halfway cut, illustrating the arduous task of play at the Vale do Lobo course.
David Higgins was two shots further back with one hole left to play. The Challenge Tour player was four-over for his round after picking up a birdie at the 17th. Philip Walton was having a treacherous time, dropping almost as many shots as he was playing at one point. Starting on the back nine, the Dubliner was eight-over by the time he reached the turn and was 12-over in total with two holes remaining.