Four share lead at Trophee Hassan II
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Agadir, Morocco (SportsNetwork.com) - Richie Ramsay, Oliver Farr, Richard Green and Rafa Cabrera-Bello all finished Friday's second round deadlocked and they will head into the weekend with a 1-shot lead at the Trophee Hassan II.
Ramsay had the low round of the day with a bogey-free, 6-under 66, while Farr carded a 4-under 68. Cabrera-Bello fired a 69 and Green finished with a 70. All four are tied at 6-under-par 138 after 36 holes.
Green has three career victories on the European Tour, while Cabrera-Bello and Ramsay have two apiece. Farr, a rookie on tour after earning his card by finishing inside the top-15 on the 2014 Challenge Tour money list, has never won on tour.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Tshwane Open winner George Coetzee, who needs a win this week to qualify for the Masters, shot an even-par 72. He is one shot back and tied for fifth at 5- under 139 with Pablo Larrazabal (69), Richard Bland (70), Ben Evans (70) and Chris Wood (72).
First-round leader Adrien Saddier followed up on his 65 Thursday with a 5-over 77 on Friday at Golf du Palais Royal and he dropped back to 2-under 142, tying him for 26th.
Ramsay had the best round of the day by two shots and he did most of his work on the back nine, his opening nine.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The Scotland native began his round by ripping off back-to-back gains on 10 and 11 before making a pair of pars on 12 and 13.
Another strong stretch had Ramsay up to minus-5 for the day, and the week, as he drained three birdies in a 4-hole stretch from 14. Ramsay made the turn with a par on 18 and then poured in another birdie on the par-5 first.
Ramsay coasted to the finish with eight straight pars from two and at the end of the day he found himself tied atop the leaderboard.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"The last few months have been frustrating," Ramsay said. "You just want to go out and play and I've had a few (nagging) injuries. I've just tried to stick to my guns and make sure I stretch and have a good practice routine. That builds up and slowly but surely it comes around and today was the day it happened. Hopefully it can stay for the weekend."
Farr rattled off seven straight pars from one before rolling in his first gain on the par-3 eighth, which he has birdied two days straight. Farr made it four birdies in six holes with three more gains on 10, 11 and 13.
Following a trio of pars from 14, Farr took the outright lead as a member of one of the last groups on the course. A birdie on 17 pushed Farr up to minus-7 and a shot ahead. However, Farr tripped to his only bogey of the day at the last, which dropped him back into a tie for the lead heading into the weekend.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"It's my first time here and it is absolutely fantastic to play in the King's garden. It's spectacular, that's all I can say," said Farr. "This year has been great. Each week there are new challenges. Dealing with everything is tricky, but I'm enjoying it."
Green remained quiet throughout most of his round as he got started by trading a birdie on two for a bogey on three. Green made the turn at even-par with seven straight pars from four.
Back-to-back gains on 11 and 12 got Green back into red numbers for good. He closed out the round with six straight pars from 13 to grab a share of the second-round lead.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Cabrera-Bello was the only one among the leaders to bogey multiple holes on Friday. Starting on the back nine, Cabrera-Bello made birdie on 10, 11 and 14 before his first bogey on No. 15.
A trio of pars from 16 preceded Cabrera-Bello's fourth birdie on No. 1. Later on, the Spaniard traded a bogey on six with a birdie on seven and finished things up with pars on his final two.
NOTES: Cabrera-Bello (Dubai Desert Classic) and Ramsay (European Masters) both won in 2012, while Green last won in 2010 at the Portugal Masters ... Besides bogeying the par-4 18th the first two days, Farr has been bogey-free the other 34 holes ... In five events this season, Ramsay has missed four cuts and withdrew from the Omega Dubai Desert Classic in the final round ... With the cut line falling at 2-over 146, 72 players advanced to play the weekend ... Defending champion Alejandro Canizares, who won by five shots last year, shot a 1-over 73 to finish 36 holes at 6-over 150. He missed the cut by four shots.