Staff WriterThe Open de Portugal at Royal Óbidos served up more drama than a soap opera on Friday, with fog delays, fading light, and a leaderboard as tight as a drum.
When the mist finally lifted, it was Spain’s Quim Vidal who emerged from the haze with a slender one-shot lead, sitting at ten under par and three holes short of a completed second round.
The 25-year-old, who carded a sparkling 65 on Thursday, picked up right where he left off. Starting on the back nine, Vidal birdied the tenth, rattled off back-to-back birdies on 12 and 13, and added another at the par-five 18th.
He made the turn in 32 and looked as if he’d stolen the script for a perfect round—until golf’s weather gods intervened.
“I just wanted to get finished at the end there,” Vidal admitted after grinding to a halt on the par-three sixth. “The greens were getting hard to read and it was difficult to see the putts go in. I started my round well. I was hitting the ball well and made a nice putt on the first, but that was probably the only one I made all day.”
Behind him, Scotsman David Law—already top of the Road to Mallorca Rankings—played the kind of golf that looks suspiciously like someone intent on regaining his DP World Tour card. He shot a bogey-free 66 to slide into second at nine under, just one behind Vidal.
“Just trying to get finished was the main thing at the end there,” Law said of his late dash against the dying daylight. “I had 225 into the last and normally you would go for that, but I decided to lay-up and make five. I had a really good day overall, tee-to-green was really solid, so I am happy.”
Law, who already has two wins this season, is eyeing a third and a golden ticket back to the big stage. But even a man in form knows when his tank is nearly empty.
“The last couple of weeks I feel like I am running on empty,” he admitted. “I was tired last week in Poland but this week I feel a little bit better. I know I am not playing next week so I’ll have three weeks off coming up, so it will be great to finish and have a good week before we go to China.”
The second round of the Open de Portugal resumes Saturday at 8:00 a.m., with Vidal, Frenchman Oihan Guillamoundeguy, and England’s Jamie Rutherford needing to polish off their final holes.
Round three won’t get underway before 10:00 a.m., giving players just enough time to catch their breath—and maybe pray for clear skies.
