Alejandro Del Rey recovered from a triple-bogey on his first hole to post a six under par second round 66 and take a share of the Big Green Egg German Challenge powered by VcG lead.
The 24-year-old bounced back brilliantly from his disappointing start with seven birdies and an eagle to move to ten under par alongside Poland’s Mateusz Gradecki and fellow Spaniard Manuel Elvira at Wittelsbacher Golfclub.
Del Rey, who holds the record for the lowest round in Challenge Tour history after posting a 14 under par 58 at the 2021 Swiss Challenge, was delighted with the mental resilience he showed during the second round in Germany.
“I couldn’t have got off to a worse start,” he said. “I wasn’t nervous or anything it was just a bad swing on a tough hole. I had to mentally reset with a couple of pars and then I started to make birdies.
“I knew I had to take advantage of the holes on the back nine because there are some tough tee shots on the front nine. If you are out of position then it is really difficult to make birdie.
“It’s so important for me to build on this good start because it’s so tough out here on the Challenge Tour. You can be playing good golf but it really doesn’t matter unless you are finishing high up on the leaderboard. Tomorrow is a big day and hopefully it’s a good weekend for me.”
Co-leader Gradecki kick-started his second round in style with a hole out eagle on the first and was pleased to reap the rewards of his hard work on the practice greens.
“I started with a hole out eagle on the first hole which was a nice bonus,” he said. “My putting wasn’t great to start with, but I stayed patient and the birdies started to come. There wasn’t much wind and the greens were receptive so it was definitely scoreable out there.
“Last week I played very well tee to green, but my putter wasn’t hot. I arrived here in a confident mood having worked on my putting and it just goes to show that hard work does pay off.
“I missed the cut here last year but I have changed my game plan this year. I’ve tried to be more aggressive off the tee and hopefully it continues to work for me.”
Overnight leader Tadeáš Tetak sits in fourth place on nine under par, while Frenchman Robin Sciot-Siegrist is a shot further back in fifth.
Frenchman Félix Mory and Irishman John Murphy occupy sixth position on seven under par, while German Max Schmitt, Belgian Christopher Mivis, Sweden’s Jens Fahrbring and English duo Daniel Brown and John Parry share eighth on six under.
