Jamie Rutherford, Frank Kennedy and Pietro Bovari will share a one-stroke lead heading into the weekend of the Euram Bank Open.
The trio all reached nine under par after 36 holes at GC Adamstal, one shot clear of German Marc Hammer, Frenchman Martin Couvra, and Irishman Ronan Mullarney.
Starting on the tenth, Englishman Rutherford carded birdies at the 12th and 18th alongside a pair of bogeys to make the turn level par, before firing four birdies and a closing eagle from the ninth fairway to post a six under 64.
The 29-year-old, who arrived in Austria following back-to-back top ten finishes at the Le Vaudreuil Golf Challenge and Blot Open de Bretagne, was delighted to finish his round with an eagle after recovering from an indifferent start.
“I started poorly,” he said. “I hit a couple of really poor tee shots, but managed to keep myself there or there abouts, then holed a few really nice putts to start my back nine and played nice coming in.
“I holed out on the last, which is a bit of a bonus. I just hit a soft nine iron cutting towards the flag, it pitched three yards past it and spun back. It was a nice way to finish.
“Definitely the last month I feel my game has been heading in the right direction. I’ve had some nice results and played some really good golf… so hopefully I can carry it on.”
Compatriot Kennedy carded five birdies and a solitary bogey on his way to a four under 66 and highlighted his straight hitting off the tee as the key to his success over the first two rounds.
“I’ve hit it very straight the past two days,” the 18-year-old said. “It’s always nice being in the fairway going into these greens.
“I need to tighten up the wedges a little bit and maybe a few more birdies will come, but overall, pretty happy with how I’m playing going into tomorrow.
“Tomorrow I’ll have the same strategy as I went out with today and just hopefully a few more putts go in. I’ve just got to stay focused and hopefully I can go low.”
Italian Bovari fired six birdies – four of which came on par threes – to post a bogey-free 64 and join the leaders at nine under par at GC Adamstal, a course the 23-year-old believes is well suited to his game.
“I love this course,” he said. “It suits my game very well. I think not hitting driver off the tee hasn’t bothered me as much as it has some other guys.
“I’ve been relying much more on my wedge game, placing tee shots on the correct part of the fairway and taking the challenge on from there.
“I’ll try to keep trusting the process, doing my routine, and focusing on every shot as much as the last.”
Five players share seventh place at seven under par, including Italian Aron Zemmer, Englishman Alfie Plant, Norwegian Herman Sekne, Australian Maximilian Steinlechner and Frenchman Julien Sale, who carded the low round of day two with a seven under 63.
The third round of the Euram Bank Open gets under way at 9:05am, with Rutherford, Kennedy and Bovari teeing it up at 11:05am.
