When the largely unheralded Lucas Bjerregaard first found himself in contention at a European Tour event, it didn’t go very well. Last December, the young Dane was second going into the final round of the Alfred Dunhill Championship but slumped to a ruinous 89 – including a shuddering inward half of 50 – and plummeted to 49th. Nearly a year on, things are improving. Three weeks ago, Bjerregaard finished second to Justin Rose in the Hong Kong Open and now the 24-year-old is once again in the hunt for a maiden tour triumph as he leads the BMW Masters by three shots at the halfway stage.
While first round frontrunner Sergio Garcia suffered a costly lapse on his back-nine, Bjerregaard seized his opportunity with a second successive six-under 66 for a 13-under aggregate of 132 and a healthy lead over Garcia and Thailand’s Thongchai Jaidee.
Garcia, the world No 11, was one shot clear after an opening 64 and initially remained out in front during round two thanks to birdies on the third, sixth and seventh.
However, the 35-year-old Spaniard then three-putted the 12th and ran up a double-bogey seven on the 13th, pulling his attempted lay-up into the water and taking three to get down from just short of the green.
A birdie on the 15th repaired some of the damage but a second round of 71 left Garcia nine-under-par. “If you didn't hit the right shot at the right time you could pay the price and I definitely did a couple of times,” said Garcia. “Hopefully it will be the worst round of the week for me.”
As Garcia toiled, Bjerregaard made a late thrust and birdied five of his last eight holes to surge to the front. "It was nice in Hong Kong to prove to myself and to everyone else that I can still compete up there," he said. "Hopefully I can do that again this week and just come up one place better than last time.”
Ian Poulter carded a 68 to join fellow Englishman Paul Casey and BMW PGA Championship winner Byeong Hun An on eight-under, with Ross Fisher - who lost out in a play-off for the BMW Masters title 12 months ago - another shot back alongside American Peter Uihlein, whose 66 included a run of seven birdies in a row. Uihlein almost equalled the European Tour record of eight on the spin but his birdie putt of 15 feet just missed. Rose, who needs a win or a second place to overtake Rory McIlroy at the head of the Race to Dubai rankings, could only muster a level-par 72 and finished seven shots off the pace.
Marc Warren was the best of the Scots on 142 after a two-under 70 but Richie Ramsay slithered out of the top-10 with a scrappy 75 for 143. Stephen Gallacher had a 73 for his 145 tally and needs a good weekend to make sure he stays inside the top-60 on the money list and safeguard his place in next week’s DP World Tour Championship in Dubai.
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