Flawless rounds from Alessandro Tadini of Italy and England’s Matthew Cryer took them into a share of the halfway lead in the Fred Olsen Challenge de España on the Canary Islands.
Tadini edged his fellow leader with an eight birdie 63 to Cryer’s seven birdie 64 but the pair will go into the weekend locked together at the top of the leaderboard on 14 under par 128 at Tecina Golf on La Gomera.
Tadini currently lies 27th on the Challenge Tour Rankings and very much in the mix for a place among the top 20 and subsequent promotion to The European Tour.
“I played perfectly,” said the 38 year old who lives in Monaco. “Same as yesterday, but I holed four or five more long putts.”
It was also a second successive round without a dropped shot, highlighted by five successive birdies from the ninth.
“Yesterday I reached 18 greens, 17 today, it is impossible to do better than that. I have good feeling with my putter which is very important here because greens are very difficult. My long game was great too.
“I am 27th at the Rankings and I need to win. Last year I won a tournament and I ended the season in 25th position out of the Tour. This year I haven’t won and I am 27th now, so if I have a good tournament I can make it. There are still two more days and a lot to do.”
Cryer, 81st in the Rankings and without a top ten yet this season, also enjoyed a great day in the sun, helped in no small measure by his coach who he practiced with earlier in the week.
“We worked a lot on the greens and we saw that it is an optical illusion - they are not exactly what you see,” he explained. “So I was sticking to that believing and committing to it.
“In general I just stayed patient, sticking to my game plan and trying to recognize where I hit my shot and what pin is reachable. My aim today was to do the same as yesterday and let it carry on. Just have to have confidence on what I have in front of me.”
Three players lie a further shot back with overnight joint leaders Christophe Brazillier of France and Nicolas Meitinger of Belgium, who followed their opening 62s with matching rounds of 67, joined by Lloyd Kennedy, the Englishman carding a second round 66.
Brazillier’s round included a chip in eagle from the back of the third green although his five birdies were countered by three bogeys.
“I played well but the course was very different with a change of wind,” he said. “It was not as easy as yesterday. It’s been a bit of a frustrating day so I am going to try to relax in the swimming pool and try to give it my best for the next two days.”
