Staff WriterThe Blot Play9 is nicely poised for a weekend scrap after Pablo Ereño and John Gough reached eight under par at Golf Bluegreen de Pléneuf Val André, sharing a one-shot lead on a Friday that appeared to have been designed by someone with a personal grudge against birdies.
Ereño, the Spaniard with enough patience to survive a tricky start, signed for a two under par 68. Gough, the Englishman who began the day as overnight leader, added a one under par 69 to join him at the top.
Between them, they made the second round look rather calmer than it was. The course, by all accounts, had become a skittish little beast: firm greens, fairways running like startled spaniels, and approach shots refusing to sit still unless addressed with extreme courtesy.
Ereño Recovers After Early Damage
Ereño began the day one shot behind Gough and did not exactly glide into his round wearing a smoking jacket. A bogey at the par-four sixth nudged him in the wrong direction, and for a moment he appeared to be slipping backwards rather than pushing for the lead.
Then came the seventh.
An eagle repaired the early damage in one glorious gulp, though a bogey at the ninth hauled him back to level par for the round. From there, the Spaniard produced the sort of back-nine response that does not shout from the balcony but quietly gets the job done. Two birdies followed, including a tidy up-and-down at the 17th, leaving him eight under and very much in business.
“Overall, I’m really happy with the round,” he said. “It was playing really hard out there today, the fairways were rolling a lot, and the greens were firm too, so it was hard to create birdie chances.
“I try not to look at the scoreboard; I try to play my own game when it’s my turn to get out there.
“I was hitting some great shots on the first four or five holes; I just wasn’t able to make any putts and then saved bogey at six with a really good wedge shot before I played the seventh perfectly and got eagle.
“All I’m doing is playing my best golf, and that was eight under in these first couple of days. I want to go as deep as I can and we will see how the course plays over the next couple of days.”
That last line is the sensible golfer’s manifesto: do the work, avoid the carnage, and let the course reveal how unreasonable it intends to be.
Gough Scraps His Way Back To The Top
Gough’s round had more elbows and knees in it.
Starting at the tenth, the 27-year-old birdied two of his opening three holes and looked as though he might simply carry on where he had left off. Then golf, being golf, asked for its usual administrative fee. Three dropped shots in four holes before the turn turned a bright start into something more awkward.
But Gough steadied himself impressively. Six straight pars stopped the wobble becoming a collapse, before back-to-back birdies near the finish restored him to a share of the lead. A routine closing par putt was enough to send him into Saturday with the last tee time and, one suspects, a slightly better appetite.
“I definitely didn’t hit it as well as yesterday,” he said. “The early birdies helped me because I wasn’t hitting it great and I was scrapping it around a little bit.
“My short game was quite tidy, and I made some good pars and getting a couple of birdies in at the end that will make dinner taste a little bit better.”
That is a fine piece of golfer’s understatement. There are few meals better than the one eaten after rescuing a round that had briefly started waving a shovel at you.
Patience Becomes The Weekend Currency
After the lower scoring of day one, the second round of the Blot Play9 was a sterner examination. Gough, like much of the field, found that momentum was harder to locate and considerably easier to misplace.
“It was a mixture of everything,” he added. “I wasn’t hitting it in the right places at all. I think I actually managed it well, because you can have a big number quite easily out here.
“On this course you have to be patient and hopefully some putts start dropping.
“It’s very pleasing to be in the final group tomorrow, but the last two days have been very long, and there’s two long days ahead of us. I’m going to keep doing what I’ve been doing over these two days and then go from there.”
That is the correct mood for this sort of venue. Not swagger. Not panic. More a low-level truce with the property.
Golf Bluegreen de Pléneuf Val André clearly has enough bite to punish impatience, and with two rounds still to play, the Blot Play9 has the look of a tournament that may be decided as much by restraint as brilliance.
Huntzinger Lurks One Back
American Charles Huntzinger sits alone in third at seven under par, one shot off the lead and close enough to make the final group feel less like a duet and more like a three-man argument.
Frenchman Tom Gueant, after a level par 70, holds outright fourth. Behind him sits a pack of six players in a share of fifth, one further stroke adrift, which should provide plenty of movement when the third round gets under way.
And movement is exactly what Saturday promises. With the leaders separated by margins thinner than a missed lip-out, one loose swing, one buried lie or one properly stubborn putter could rearrange the whole thing before lunch has had time to settle.
Third Round Tee Times Set For Saturday
The third round of the Blot Play9 begins at 8 am local time on Saturday, with Ereño and Gough teeing off alongside Huntzinger at 12:25 pm.
That final group has the ingredients required: the co-leaders, the chaser, a course with firm teeth, and two long days still waiting at the door.
Ereño has the calm of a player trusting his own game. Gough has already shown he can make a score without his best ball-striking. Huntzinger is close enough to be dangerous. The rest are near enough to keep everyone honest.
For now, the Blot Play9 belongs jointly to Pablo Ereño and John Gough. By Saturday evening, it may belong to whoever blinks least.
