Miguel Angel Jimenez shot a 4-under-par 69 in the second round on Friday to vault into a share of the lead at the Trophy Hassan II in Rabat, Morocco.
The Spaniard collected six birdies against two bogeys to pull into a tie with Steven Alker of New Zealand at 7-under 139 in the PGA Tour Champions event at Royal Golf Dar Es Salam.
Jimenez is seeking his 14th career win on the Champions Tour and first since the 2022 Boeing Classic.
“I would love to (win),” Jimenez said. “It’s one more round, Steve’s playing very well. I played with him yesterday, he’s a very solid player. A few guys there, Carlos also won last year here. OK, I’ve been playing well, I have to focus on myself and let anything happens.
“… I’ve been hitting solid and playing very well and I hope tomorrow I can finish up there.”
Alker, who is bidding for his ninth career Champions Tour victory, shared the first-round lead with Englishman Simon Griffiths.
On Friday, Alker had three bogeys to offset three birdies on the front nine before carding three more birdies to close his round. The reigning Charles Schwab Cup winner finished with a 70 and joined Jimenez with a two-stroke lead over Tim O’Neal (71 on Friday).
“Yeah, I had a little bit of a slow start; I was 2 over after four,” Alker said. “Just had to get going, give myself a bit of a kick in the butt. Then got it going, made a bunch of birdies kind of through the middle there. And again, strong finish, par on 18. Would have liked to have made birdie but pleased with the day the way I started.”
Griffiths plummeted into a tie for 24th place after carding a 77 on Friday.
Defending champion Ricardo Gonzalez of Argentina, who set a 54-hole record (209) at the course in 2024, shot a 3-under 70 on Friday to move into fourth place at 4-under. He sits one shot ahead of a nine-golfer contingent that includes South African Ernie Els, who won the season-opening Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai last month.
Els, who entered the week atop the Schwab Cup standings, carded a 71 on Friday,
Angel Cabrera of Argentina shot a 68 in the second round to reside at 3-under with South Korea’s K.J. Choi (69), Justin Leonard (70), Scotland’s Colin Montgomerie (70), Denmark’s Thomas Bjorn (71), Australia’s Greg Chalmers (71), Stewart Cink (72) and Adilson da Silva of Brazil.
–Field Level Media
