The PGA of Great Britain & Ireland’s Mark Ridley produced a blemish-free second round of 64 (-6) to take a commanding five-shot lead at the 2017 Mercedes-Benz International Pro-Am at Al Ain Equestrian, Shooting & Golf Club in the UAE.

Ridley, who started the day three shots adrift of first round leader Filip Eriksson (PGA of Sweden), continued his excellent form from yesterday and is the only player in the field to shoot under par for both the first two rounds.

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“It all went a bit better than yesterday… I was much more solid and holed a few more putts then I did yesterday,” said Ridley.  “I holed a nice one on a par-five for an eagle so that was nice bonus!

“I’m feeling fine – bring it on… it will be great to just go out tomorrow and do my best, and hopefully hang on.”

The highlight of Ridley’s round was undoubtedly the eagle he made on the par-five 7th. Two more birdies on the front nine meant he reached the turn in a four-under 31.

After seven pars in a row on the back nine, Ridley capped off his superb day with a birdie on each of the last two holes, leaving him on a total of 131 (-9) for the tournament.

In second place is overnight leader Eriksson who found it considerably harder to score than yesterday and shot a two-over round of 72, giving him a total of 136 (-4).

He is joined in second place by Alex Wrigley of the PGA of GB&I. Wrigley shot a bogey-free round of 66 (-4), making birdies on holes, four, five, 11 and 17 for the second lowest round of the day.

Just behind the top three are Darren Bragg (PGA of GB&I – 137), Nicolo Gaggero (PGA of Italy – 138) and Johanna Gustavsson (PGA of Sweden – 139) who are all under par, but are a long way back of the leader Ridley.

Leading in the Team Pro-Am Competition are Christos Nikopoulas of the PGA of Greece and his team consisting of amateurs Nikos Valsamidis, Sungjin Hwang and Moonwon Jo, who scored an impressive 89 points (-19) to give them a two round total of 175 points (-33).

However, they are hotly pursued by Team Bragg (174), Team Ridley (173) and Team Nesbit (172) who are all within 4 points of the leaders, setting up an intriguing Round 03 in Al Ain.

For Full Round 02 Scores Visit: http://eur.pe/2017MercInt

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For more information on the Confederation of Professional Golf visit the Tournament Hub Page, follow @PGAsofEurope on Twitter search the Hashtag ‘#MercIntProAm’, or like the Confederation of Professional Golf Facebook Page.

To find out more about Al Ain Equestrian, Shooting & Golf Club visit www.aesgc.ae.