British Masters: Lee Westwood makes a cut at Close House while Renato Paratore leads

England & # 39; s Dale Whitnell has yet to drop a shot in his opening of two rounds in Close House and is once in charge -11 R Paratore (Ita); -10 D Whitnell (Eng), J Harding (SA); – 9 D Law (Sco), R Hojgaard (Den), A Chesters (Eng), C Hill (Sco) Selected: -8 O Fisher (Eng); -7 R Rock (Eng), B Stow (Eng); -6 E Pepperell (Eng); -5 A Sullivan (Eng)

Lee Westwood was deleted from the intersection of one undersized, 10 shots in the last two rounds of the British masters behind Italian leader Renato Paratore.

The English Westwood, which organizes the European Tour event at Close House near Newcastle, initially had a double bogey, but achieved a level par 71

Paratore has yet to drop a shot after following his opening 65 with a 66.

South Africa's Justin Harding shot an eight-under 63 to go down to 10 next to Dale Whitnell (64).

Whitnell, who played Tommy Fleetwood in the 2009 Walker Cup team, struggled to establish himself in the professional ranks and took a job as a courier driver two and a half years ago " to fund playing mini tours ".

World number 456 claimed its European Tour card from the qualifying school, but did not win a cent from five events in 2020 before the coronavirus pandemic forced the sport to close.

The 31-year-old from Colchester, who has had a bogey-free first two rounds, had an eagle and five birdies in an excellent second round, but said he is trying "not to reflect "on the first prize of £ 187,000 and two years of Exemption from the European Tour.

"I'm just trying to do my business as I normally would and if it's good enough, it's good enough," he added.

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David Law had a solid two-under-69 to go to nine at night, where he was joined by fellow Scot Calum Hill (66), the English Ashley Chesters (66) and Rasmus Hojgaard from Denmark (67

Since the event returned to the European Tour in 2015, a leading British golfer has been

Westwood, a member of Close House, also hosted the event in North East England in 2017.

.] The number 34 in the world is easily the highest ranked player in the field, but had to miss the cut after dropping three shots in his opening three holes to go up two par.

Four birdies in his next seven holes til him down before another bogey on the 13th saw him cut the target n.

England & # 39; s Eddie Pepperell, one of only two other players in the field within the top 100 of the world, is sixth behind and two under 69.

& # 39; Beef & # 39; declares withdrawal

This is the first of six European Tour events to be held in the UK this summer and players, officials and media undergo rigorous coronavirus testing procedures.

The approach of the European Tour was widely praised, but led to the English Andrew Johnston retiring after nine holes of Thursday's opening round.

Nicknamed & # 39; Beef & # 39; & # 39 ;, Johnston became a fan favorite after winning the Spanish Open 2016, but spoke last year of the mental health issues that followed his rapid advance.

After retiring to Close House, he said, "Being here and being confined to the hotel and not being able to bring the course and my family is ultimately not what I am doing right now

"I'm having trouble getting my head around it. One minute I come out of the lockdown, I go out for dinner, and the next moment I am lockdown in a hotel room again. "