Jon Rahm back in mix, Shane Lowry misses cut in 18th hole frustration as Marco Penge leads Open de Espana presented by Madrid | Golf News

Jon Rahm made a quick return to action at the weekend, but fellow Ryder Cup winner Shane Lowry missed out on day two of the Spanish Open presented by Madrid.

The European duo were left disappointed on their return to action on Thursday after two weeks after helping Luke Donald’s side to a memorable away win in New York, with both firing above-par opening rounds around the Club de Campo Villa de Madrid.

While both were back to par on Friday, Lowry’s three-under 68 left him one shot outside the par line.

Lowry got himself back into tournament form after going four-under-14, but a shot dropped for the second day in a row at No. 16 proved costly.

After tying at 17, the Irishman gave himself a shot at the weekend by putting away a 15-footer on the 18th green, but two weeks after scoring the putt that saw Europe retain the Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black and wild celebrations, this time Lowry’s ball went agonizingly across the right side of the hole, sealing his fate in the Spanish capital.

Lori knelt down and slapped his legs out of frustration.

Moments later, his partner Rahm, who departed in frustration amid the blustery conditions on Thursday, sank his seventh birdie of the day’s impressive round of 66 to reach five under in the home event.

But the three-time Spaniard remains five shots off the pace as everyone chases England’s in-form Marco Bing.

The Race to Dubai competitor finished his round with back-to-back birdies to take the full lead at nine under after a four-under 67.

Penge has won twice on the DP World Tour this year, and entered the week third in the season’s general classification behind Rory McIlroy and Tyrrell Hatton.

“Very patient day, it’s nice to have a bogey-free round,” Ping said. “I played pretty solid, there are still some areas I can improve on, but overall it was a steady round of golf.

“I had a good session after my round yesterday so today was a little bit better – still probably around a seven out of 10 but hopefully I can play better golf over the weekend.”

The Englishman leads Danish Jeff Venter – who shot the best round on Friday in the round of 64 – and Swiss Joel Gerbach (65) and Canadian Aaron Cockerill (67) by one shot.

Another Englishman, Dan Brown, is in a six-shot at seven-under 66 after the second round, with Swede Joachim Lagergren also in that group having tied with Winther’s 64.

Spain’s Sergio Garcia, who won the title in 2002, shot a one-under 70 to secure his place in the weekend’s competition by one point overall.

Watch the Open de Espana presented by Madrid this week with Round 3 coverage from Saturday at 12.30pm, live on Sky Sports Golf. Stream the DP World Tour, PGA Tour, LPGA Tour and more without a contract with NOW.

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