Ewen Ferguson moves into halfway lead

Ewen Ferguson surged into a three-shot halfway lead at the Soudal Open after a stunning second-round 64.

The 28-year-old Scot carded seven birdies at Rinkven International GC as he completed a second successive bogey-free round for an 11-under-par total.

That was three shots clear of England's Marco Penge, with Dutchmen Joost Luiten and Darius van Driel, American Troy Merritt and English trio John Parry, Brandon Robinson Thompson and Andrew Wilson sharing third on seven under.

Ferguson said: “I was hitting it really well on the range and I knew it was windy at the start so I was just thinking fairways and greens, don't do anything too fancy. I've got a new putter in play this week and it felt good, I was rolling it nicely.

“Even my bad shots today, I still seemed to have some sort of a shot or made something out of it but the game kicks you often enough so nice to make something out of it.

“I was in control of my ball today and when I was out of position I just got back in position and I was chipping really well, so I was always getting it up and down and that kept momentum going.

“I quite enjoy when a par is a good score. I find it tough sometimes when you just need to make birdies and there's a lot of pressure on to make birdies. So when it's quite tough like that to grind out pars, I feel comfortable with that because that's how I was brought up playing and in Scotland par is a brilliant score.”

Ferguson birdied the first and third from inside five feet and picked up another shot by holing from the edge of the ninth green.

The three-time DP World Tour winner then birdied the 11th, 13th and 16th before picking up his most unlikely gain of the day on the 17th.

Having driven into trees down the left, Ferguson was forced to hack out with his second and still had 238 yards of the par five to go standing over his third. He missed the green to the right but spectacularly holed his pitch for birdie.

“It worked out well for me today,” he added. “You just need to hold on Saturday – you can't win on Saturday but you can definitely lose.

“Just keep yourself in there, Marco's full of confidence – I'm good friends with him as well so it will be a good duel.”

Penge, who recently won the Hainan Classic, mixed five birdies and two bogeys in his 68.

“It was pretty similar to yesterday,” he said. “I got off to a great start.

“Winning in China gave me a lot of confidence - just knowing I can win at this level. Last year, I kind of felt like an apprentice, being a rookie and learning the ropes. But this year, I feel much more at home.

“I even said to my caddie today, walking down the fifth, how great it is to be playing alongside guys like Haotong Li and Thomas Pieters - players I’ve looked up to, Ryder Cup players and multiple-time winners. It’s just amazing to be out here with the best players in Europe. I still have so much to learn, and these are the types of players I can learn a lot from.

“I believe in myself and in the things I keep to myself. I didn’t feel out of place last week at the (US) PGA, and I don’t feel out of place here either. We’ve just got to keep putting good scores together and keep moving forward.”