Spain’s Rafael Cabrera-Bello believes he has learnt from his mistakes as he looks to turn another promising position into victory in the BMW International Open.
Cabrera-Bello added a second round of 67 to his opening 65 at Munich’s Eichenried Golf Club to claim the halfway lead on 12 under par, one shot ahead of England’s James Morrison.
Northern Ireland's Michael Hoey and Denmark's Lasse Jensen are two shots off the lead after rounds of 65 and 69 respectively, Hoey equalling the lowest score of the day with nine birdies and two bogeys.
“I knew the greens would be better today and I putted well,” Hoey said on Sky Sports 4. “There was an opportunity today to shoot seven under and I did that.
“The cut has been six under here before and although they have lengthened the course and it’s tougher now, you have to score well no matter what. Someone is going to be 24 under so you have to be aggressive, which is quite good. It’s quite enjoyable to go at it and get stuck in.”
Shane Lowry followed up on his opening round 72 with an improved 67, leaving him at five under. Birdies on the sixth, ninth, and four more off the back nine means he’s up 58 places to joint 26th still fresh from his ninth place finish in the US Open.
The 31-year-old Cabrera-Bello has finished fourth, 13th and second in his last three events on the European Tour, but bogeyed the 72nd hole in the Irish Open to miss out on a play-off and could only manage a closing 72 when entering the final round of the Lyoness Open just two off the lead.
“On some occasions I have been a little unfortunate, other occasions the competition is very hard and other people have just outplayed me and other times I have made some mistakes which I have learned from,” Cabrera-Bello told Sky Sports 4.
“Hopefully I put the pieces together this week; we will see.”
Starting from the 10th, Cabrera-Bello picked up shots on the 12th, 13th and 16th and also chipped in for an unlikely birdie on the 18th after finding water with his approach to the par five.
The two-time European Tour winner also birdied the first and second but could not find any more on the closing stretch and dropped his only shot of the day on the eighth after failing to save par from a greenside bunker.
“I am pleased with the score but I do feel like it could have been a little better, especially after being 13 under with seven holes to play,” added Cabrera-Bello, whose last win came in the Dubai Desert Classic in 2012.
“I did not play so good the last few holes, made a few sloppy swings, but nothing really to worry about and I just take it that I got my chances early in the round and made the mistakes at the end. That’s the way it goes sometimes.
“There are tons of great players here all trying to take the trophy home so I am going to try to keep playing aggressive. If it comes to the point where I need to play a little smarter I will try to do that.”
Morrison birdied three of the last four holes to add a 66 to his opening 67 and believes his victory in the Spanish Open last month will stand him in good stead this weekend.
“It’s definitely a big advantage,” Morrison said. “Those feelings (of winning) are pretty new and still there. I am playing well and looking forward to it. It’s a low-scoring course and you have to keep making birdies.”
World number seven Henrik Stenson added a 71 to his opening 67 to lie six under, but playing partner Martin Kaymer missed the cut after a costly bogey on the last, where his drive was deemed not to have crossed a water hazard following a lengthy discussion involving rules officials and on-course reporters, who were being fed information from television replays.
“At the end of the day too many people got involved,” Kaymer said. “I could not see where it crossed the water. It was up to the camera guys and they were not sure and they (the referees) have to give the benefit to the field.”
