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Scotland's Lee and Italy's Perrino share 36-hole lead at Saint-Omer Open

By PA Sport and Associated Press
Published on
Scotland's Lee and Italy's Perrino share 36-hole lead at Saint-Omer Open

Scotland's Craig Lee produced a 3-under-par round of 68 Friday to move into a share of the lead at the halfway stage of the European Tour’s Saint-Omer Open.

Lee made a storming start to his round as consecutive birdies on the third, fourth and fifth got him to 5 under overall, but he was to end the day on that mark after tempering the three further shots he picked up with three bogeys.

That left him tied at the top of the leaderboard with Italy's Andrea Perrino, whose round proved to be a more consistent affair as he carded three birdies and just the one bogey.

Perrino is leading a European Tour event for the first time of his career.

“I’ve just got to stay calm and make the best out it,” he said. “I’m not going to worry about it or play with fear, it’s just a game.”

Overnight leader George Coetzee slipped back to third place. The South African was 1 under on the day through 13 holes but a nightmare double bogey-7 at the 14th cost him the lead.

Italy's Federico Colombo carded the best round of the day as his 4-under 67 moved him into contention.

"I played a good game without doing anything special. I just kept the ball in play and made a few good putts,” said Colombo, who was 1 over on Thursday, and posted five birdies and just one dropped shot. "There was less wind today but it was raining, so the conditions are still tough. And on this course you just need to keep the ball in play.

"Yesterday for the first four or five holes my swing did not feel so good so I was trying to sort that out today. It is difficult on the driving range here because it is downhill and with crosswinds,” he added. "I've been playing pretty well in the last few tournaments, but I'm just taking it shot by shot and trying not to look at the leaderboard."

England's Benn Barham was part of a four-way tie for fifth with compatriots Steven Tiley and Lee Slattery a shot further back at 1 under. Scotland's Alastair Forsyth and Wales' Stuart Manley were level par.