DUTCH OPEN DAY TWO: Portugal’s Gouveia moves top of leaderboard as Li Hoatong cards nine-under 63
Updated: Jun 28, 2022
Portugal’s Ricardo Gouveia moved to a one-shot lead at the top of the Dutch Open 2022 leaderboard after day two.
England's Matt Wallace remains hot on the leaders tail at the halfway stage after carding a solid five-under 67 leaving him two-shots off the leader in third.
China’s Li Haotong shot an impressive nine-under 63 for the day, which included eagle and eight birdies, leaves him in second place one-shot off leader Gouveia.
Matt Wallace said: “Not as solid as it probably looked. The game probably wasn’t quite where I wanted it to be hitting wise, I probably hit it a bit better yesterday, but score wise was really good so if I can clean it up and keep scoring the way I am it should be good.
“It is definitely a different style, this is more linksy, firmer, I mean my hybrid is sometimes going 300 downwind, so that doesn’t happen over there (United States), I am happy to get 300 with driver over there sometimes. Slower greens with less break, so I have to be a bit more aggressive, so that has helped with the putting a bit. And striking wise was not as clean as I would have wanted it, I have been hitting it really good over there the last few weeks, so if I can get back on that then we will be in good shape.
“I have had a really good mental attitude this week, so it is all about executing the shot for me, the swing, seeing it and executing it, and crack on from there.
“Positivity. Not talking bad about myself or a shot. Putting more energy into the good shots rather than the bad shots, so if I hit a bad shot you are allowed to let that frustration out but then don’t give it any energy or any thought. You know, fist pump the good stuff, and talk about the good stuff rather than the bad stuff. We expect ourselves to hit good shots, and you don’t say anything sometimes, but actually when you hit a good shot you should give yourself credit, fist bump, talk with your caddie and say good shot.
Nine-under Li Haotong said: “Obviously I had a hot start, the first three holes, and my putting was very hot. I holed a lot of long putts and the game has been slowly coming back.
“Actually yesterday I felt off the tee I played better than today. With this course, if you are off a little bit, it’s so easy to have a bogey, so today I put every ball in safer places and created a lot of birdie chances from there.
“Confidence. I felt like the swing didn’t change much and the ball flight didn’t change much, a lot of confidence and self belief. I need to be myself and stay calm, and hopefully I can shoot another couple rounds like this.”
Tournament leader Ricardo Gouveia said: “I just played very solid from the beginning, I holed a few good putts today again, I think that was the key, and kept it in play so when I missed a few shots I was able to recover well.
“Normally I tend to play well with windy conditions, and it just suits my game, so far so good. You have to put the ball in the right spots off the tee and then you can create some chances, obviously there are going to be some tucked pins and you have to be smart. That is what I learned from last year.
“I made a lot of birdies so far and I think that shows my putting has been good the last couple days and I hope I can continue into the weekend.”
