• Trophee Hassan II, Round Two

Rock in a hard place as Price leads the way

ESPN staff
March 23, 2012
Robert Rock and Matteo Manassero are both looking to book their ticket to The Masters © Getty Images
Enlarge

Leaderboard

Robert Rock's bid to qualify for next month's Masters hit another stumbling block as the Englishman remains well off the pace at the Trophee Hassan II in Morocco.

Rock, who needs to finish in the top two to secure his place at Augusta on April 5, went some way to recover from his woeful opening round 77, but remains 11 shots off the pace of leader Phillip Price as strong winds delayed play by five-and-a-half hours.

Starting on the back nine, Rock looked to have erased the painful memories of his septuple-bogey 11 on the fourth on Thursday as he reached the turn in four-under to move to one-over for the tournament.

However, his hard work was immediately undone by a double-bogey seven at the first hole, and despite an eagle at the fifth, he was left some way off the leaders on one-over par with Welshman Phillip Price leading the way after a second -round 66 took him to ten-under.

Former Ryder Cup star Price, who claimed a famous win over Phil Mickelson at The Belfry in 2002, is chasing his first victory in nine years.

Matteo Manassero has an outside chance of qualifying for The Masters, and he kept his hopes alive to sit five shots off the pace after his second round 70.

The Italian recovered from a bogey on his opening hole with three consecutive birdies shortly before the turn to make steady progress up the leaderboard. Back-to-back bogeys at the first and second holes briefly checked his progress, but Manassero recovered to keep himself in contention at the Golf du Palais Royal.

But while Rock, Price and Manassero all managed to reach the clubhouse, many of the field at Agadir will have to complete their rounds on Saturday morning. Overnight leader Damien McGrane is three strokes off the pace after a level-par showing from his opening five holes.

With the projected cut currently at the two-over mark, Rock faces a nervous wait to learn if he will remain in the competition over the weekend.

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
Close