Sébastien Gros fired a brilliant eight under par round of 64 to move two strokes clear heading into the weekend of the Challenge de España at Real Club Sevilla Golf.
The Frenchman carded seven birdies, one eagle and a solitary bogey to reach nine under par for the week, two shots ahead of Frenchmen Martin Couvra and Félix Mory, Englishman Jamie Rutherford, Finn Tapio Pulkkanen, Dane Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen and Norwegian Andreas Halvorsen who share second.
Gros, who started the day three strokes off the lead, made four birdies in a row from the third hole, and despite a bogey at the seventh, responded with a fifth birdie of the day at the ninth.
The 34-year-old would go on to add further gains at the 13th and 15th before eagling the par five 16th to move clear on day two in Andalucía.
“I didn’t think that eight under par was possible around here,” he said. “Especially with the greens getting firmer. They’re a lot firmer than during the practice rounds.
“The round started well with two good putts and then two good approach shots which meant I didn’t have to work too hard for birdie.
“I then just kept the round going until a very long putt dropped for eagle on the 16th which always helps.”
Gros tasted victory twice on the Challenge Tour in 2015 - at the Najeti Open presented by Neuflize OBC and the Kazakhstan Open - on his way to finishing second in the season-long Rankings.
The Frenchman is looking to earn a third career title this weekend and, despite being in a strong position with two rounds to play, knows that a lot can happen between now and Sunday evening.
“It’s only two rounds so it’s just half way,” he added. “It’s obviously a better position to be in than at one under par for sure but I’ve known golf for a long time.
“Tomorrow will be another day. Maybe it’ll be better, maybe it’ll be worse, but I’ll keep going.”
Englishman Garrick Porteous and Swede Niklas Lemke share eighth place on six under par, with eight players one shot further back in tenth, including Spaniards Alfredo Garcia-Heredia and Joel Moscatel, Welshman Jack Davidson and German Philipp Katich.
The third round of the Challenge de España gets under way at 8:00am local time, with Gros teeing off alongside Rutherford and Pulkkanen at 12:50pm.
