Tadeáš Tetak produced a back nine 29 on his way to a nine under par 62 in the second round of DP World Tour Final Stage Qualifying School to build a one-stroke lead at INFINITUM.
The Slovakian made nine birdies on his way to the top of the leaderboard, avoiding a blemish for the second consecutive day to reach a 14 under par total.
It means Tetak sits one ahead of South Korea's Eunshin Park and Spain's Jose Luis Ballester, who both reached 13 under par, as the players completed their first rotation of each course, the Hills and the Lakes, at INFINITUM.
"It’s been two great days of golf and I have zero complaints," Tetak said. "I’ve stayed patient and the birdies have started falling and I’ve been hitting some great shots.
"It’s a marathon not a sprint this week and it’s nice to be in the position I’m in but there’s plenty of golf left."
Playing his second round on the lower-scoring Lakes Course, Tetak started steadily, with two birdies coming on his front nine as he turned in 33 strokes.
The 26-year-old then stepped up a gear on the back nine, picking up three gains between the tenth and 13th, before finishing with four on the trot to come home in 29 and sign for a 62.
Tetak is no stranger to INFINITUM, having qualified for the DP World Tour via Final Stage at the golf complex just outside of Tarragona back in 2024.
The challenge for the Slovak will be his return to the Hills Course on Sunday for round three; Tetak was three over par for his two rounds there in 2024, whilst he played the Lakes Course in 21 under par during the remaining four rounds.
"I started off well this morning, missed a couple of short ones but on the back nine I made a couple of mid-range ones. I hit my wedges close and made birdies on the ones you should out here.
"It’s definitely a confidence boost [to go bogey free] especially on the Hills because that can get tricky as everyone knows in this field. I’m really happy with the first 36 but there’s still 72 left and a lot can change.
"Anything can happen on this golf course. Two years ago I was three or four over on the Hills and ended the week 18 under. This course is very gettable, and you know if you play good golf you’re going to get ten to twelve good looks at birdie on any given day."
South Korean Park carded the low round of the day on the trickier Hills Course on day two, with a seven under par 65 seeing him to 13 under. Park last played Final Stage Qualifying at INFINITUM in 2017.
"I was here nine years ago [at INFINITUM] and I'm very happy to come back here again and the weather is so good. I had a good two rounds," he said. "I'm very happy.
"Nine years ago, I played Qualifying School and I had a chance to play some of the [DP World Tour] events and I went to Sicily, Rocco Forte Open. I really wanted to get the card here, but I couldn't come back after that.
"There are a lot of Korean players out on the DP World Tour and PGA Tour and when they come back to Korea, they tell us about the tours and I mean this tour is great so I hope I can get a card here."
Spaniard Jose Luis Ballester started with two bogeys in yesterday's first round, but has since made 16 birdies, including six in a row on Saturday, to vault up the leaderboard.
American Jhared Hack followed up his opening round of 63 on the Lakes Course with a four under par 68 on the Hills to reach a 12 under total and hold solo fourth. Sweden's David Nyfjall, Australia's Jack Buchanan, Denmark's Marcus Helligkilde, Italy's Edoardo Molinari, Spain's Pablo Larrazábal and France's Paul Beauvy share fifth at eleven under par.
The third round of DP World Tour Qualifying School gets under way at 9:00am local time, with Tetak teeing off alongside Ballester and Park on the Hills Course at 11:00am.
