Frenchman Guillaume Cambis came through an enthralling birdie-battle with playing partner Charlie Ford at the Vacon Open to overtake the Englishman and climb into a share of the second round lead alongside Austria’s HP Bacher.
Ford had shared the overnight lead heading into day two, which was delayed for an hour midway through the day due to a threat of lightning, but it was the man he played alongside who stole the show at Kytäjä Golf.
The two players were feeding off each other’s impressive golf all day and, while it was Cambis who won the mini-battle in the second round by moving to the summit on 11 under par, they will lock horns again in the final group on moving day.
The Parisian, whose maiden season on The European Tour in 2012 was hampered by injury, was delighted with his flawless five under par round of 66, even if he was a little disappointed not to take advantage of some of the more straight-forward holes on the course.
“It was a good day,” said the 26 year old. “No bogeys and five birdies, I have to be happy with that, but I didn’t make any birdies on the par fives and they are the easiest holes on the course. You need to make birdies there if you want to go low.
“At the reachable par four, the fifth, I had a 30 foot putt for eagle but made par and I found it tough to make birdies on my second nine (the front nine), but I made birdie at the ninth so I had a nice lunch after that!
“If my hips stay good, I’m not afraid of what the weekend brings. There is sometimes pressure but my game will be good all week long, I'm confident of that.
“Everything is getting better for me so I’m hoping to have a good finish to the season. Hopefully I can win this week and then play the big events at the end. I love these big greens with lots of slopes.
“Charlie and I were talking about it coming off - it’s pretty good to have a player with you who is making birdies, so you have to make some birdies. We played better because we were together, for sure.
“I was leading after nine holes, then he got some birdies on the par fives, which I missed, and he was leading after a birdie at the short par four but I managed to get out in front. But I was hoping for him to make birdies, it wasn’t like I wanted to see him miss birdie putts.
“It was a good atmosphere and it was great to play with him. It’s easier to go low with someone else who is going low. We said, ‘I’ll see you tomorrow’ after the round!”
Joining Cambis and Ford in the final group on day three will be Bacher, who rallied to eight birdies on the way to a stunning seven under par 64 and moved to 11 under at the summit.
The 27 year old, who came agonisingly close to a maiden Challenge Tour title at the 2012 Kazakhstan Open before losing in a play-off to Scott Henry, was happy with his round, especially given that it was disrupted by the delay in play.
“I had a really good start to the round,” said Bacher. “Starting with two birdies is always nice and I just stayed focussed all the way around and played shot by shot.
“I had one bogey right at the time of the delay but I got a good birdie at 18, my ninth, and that got me back on track.
“It’s not always easy to play with a delay and I think we had every type of weather today, but it was nice because I got to eat some lunch when we were called in!
“We had to wait on the first, our tenth, for the greenkeepers to get the water off the green and then I made birdie there, which was nice, and then I finished off with a nice birdie at the ninth. I was third after two days in Austria but my last top three result was in Kazakhstan in 2012 so I’m really happy to be in this position.
“A win would mean a lot to me and my team because I have worked really hard in the last couple of months and we are all excited with my game right now.”
Ford held third place all on his own at the picturesque lakeside venue on ten under while Spaniard Antonio Hortal, winner already on the Challenge Tour this year, was in fourth place on nine under par alongside Wil Besseling of The Netherlands, Callum Shinkwin of England and Swede Pontus Widegren.