Brandon Stone played himself right into contention on Friday with a second round of four-under-par 67 moving him into a share of third through 36 holes in the DP World Tour’s Italian Open at Adriatic Golf Club Cervia in Ravenna, Italy.
After five consecutive pars from his starting hole on the 10th, Stone started his scoring with an eagle on the 15th. He remained bogey-free for the rest of his round too, making two birdies after the turn, on the third and fifth as he moved to seven-under-par for the tournament.
He was in a four-way share of third, two strokes off the lead, which was held at nine-under-par by American Gunner Wiebe, who added a two-under 69 to his opening round of seven-under. Wiebe was one stroke clear of Germany’s Jannik de Bruyn, and Stone shared third with Adrian Otaegui of Spain, Sweden’s Marcus Kinhult and Sebastian Friedrichsen of Denmark.
The 35-year-old Wiebe was a runner-up at the 2023 Betfred British Masters but in 12 months since then had made only seven cuts on the DP World Tour with a best finish tied for 41st.
Next-best of the South Africans in the field was Dylan Frittelli, who had a great start from the 10th hole with five birdies as he turned in 31. However, he made three bogeys through the seventh hole on his homeward nine, before picking up one more birdie on the closing ninth as he signed for a three-under 68. He was in a share of 34th on three-under, together with, amongst others, compatriot Pieter Moolman. Moolman had a one-under 70 in the second round.
Justin Harding hung in with a one-over 72 giving him a 36-hole total of two-under-par. In a share of 45th, he gets to play on the weekend.
Casey Jarvis and Thomas Aiken do too, after finishing in a share of 56th and making the cut on the number at one-under. They had rounds of 70 and 69 respectively.
Louis de Jager, Zander Lombard, Jacques Kruyswijk, Jayden Schaper, Ockie Strydom, Jaco Prinsloo and Darren Fichardt all missed the cut.
