European Open 2017: Ashley Chesters Holds Lead After Rain-Affected Friday

Ashley Chesters will take a one-shot lead into the weekend at the European Open, as he moved to nine under par for the tournament on a weather-disrupted Friday at Green Eagle Golf Courses in Hamburg, Germany.

Inclement weather left play suspended for almost four hours on Day 2. It also meant a selection of players were unable to finish their second round on Friday.

However, Chesters made the most of his time on course with a solid five-under-par round of 67. He leads the way by one shot over four players, including Alexander Levy and Richard McEvoy, who are yet to complete their second rounds.

Below is a look at how the leaderboard is shaping up with two days remaining and a recap of another fascinating day from Germany.

Selected Standings

(-9) Ashley Chesters (67)

(-8) Siddikur Rahman (66), Alexander Levy (15*), Stuart Manley (16*), Richard McEvoy (13*)

(-7) Jens Fahrbring (15*), Jordan Smith (67)

*Yet to complete second round

For the competition leaderboard in full, visit the European Tour website.

Chesters Takes His Chance

When conditions are so difficult, so much comes down to fortune. Chesters was able to make the most of some of the day's best weather with an early start.

Before play was suspended he had already rattled in four birdies to thrust himself into contention. When he resumed, another put him clear at the summit of the standings and in a position to watch the rest of the field battle the elements.

Tony Marshall/Getty Images

Chesters, who is yet to win on the European Tour since turning professional in 2015, said he is looking forward to the challenge of being the leader this weekend.

"It's a completely new experience, tomorrow is going to be totally new to me, but the whole year has been a learning experience for me," he said, per the European Tour website. "I seem to have learnt a lot so far, so I'm guessing tomorrow is going to be the same."

As we can see courtesy of the European Tour's Mark Litton, the weather was so bad later in the day some serious work needed to be done to get the course back into shape:

Indeed, it's testament to the players that after a delay that spanned almost four hours, they were able to resume their rounds and showcase some solid golf.

Some of the best moments of the day came courtesy of defending champion Levy. The Frenchman was three-under for his round when play was called off for the day; as we can see courtesy of the European Tour Twitter feed, he was beginning to settle into a rhythm out there:

As did Thomas Bjorn, who ensured he would be competing over the weekend with a storming finish to his round:

Also in contention is Rahman, who shot the second-lowest round of the day behind Gregory Havret. The man from Bangladesh fired in eight birdies and two bogeys in an entertaining effort and will feel confident of chasing Chesters down if he can cut out some errors.

Tony Marshall/Getty Images

Meanwhile, Charl Schwartzel failed to kick on after a strong start on Thursday, finishing up at the 15th on level par for his round and five-under for the tournament.

Patrick Reed too, having been in the mix at the end of Day 1, has a lot of work to do. The American was two-over par for his round on Friday with three holes left to play, meaning he's seven shots off the lead.