Saturday 4 June 2016 17:45, UK
Matt Fitzpatrick fired his best round of the season to propel himself into a three-shot lead at the halfway stage of the Nordea Masters in Sweden.
On a day when Ian Poulter's Ryder Cup hopes were effectively ended as he announced he faces up to four months off with a foot injury, Fitzpatrick further enhanced his claims for a place in Darren Clarke's European team with a flawless seven-under 65 in the second round.
Fitzpatrick blitzed the Bro Hof Slott course for seven birdies, making four in a back-nine 32 after starting at the 10th and picking up further shots at the first, fourth and seventh, where his supreme distance control was evident as his tee shot spun back from the rear of the green and settled within a foot of the hole.
"Any time you shoot seven birdies it's always a good day, and when you managed to keep the bogeys off the card at the same time, it's an even better day," the British Masters champion told the European Tour afterwards.
"I've struggled for a bit of form so far this year, but this week has been much more like it. Hopefully I can keep it going. I'm looking forward to it, any time you go into the weekend high on the leaderboard, you're going to get excited."
The 21-year-old, whose only top-10 finish this season was a tie for seventh at The Masters in April, will go into the weekend three strokes ahead of his fellow Englishmen Ross Fisher and Andrew Johnston as well as 2012 Ryder Cup star Nicolas Colsaerts, while Scott Henry and Alexander Bjork completed the tie for second.
The big-hitting Belgian also started at the 10th and cruised to the turn in 34 before becoming the first man to make an eagle at the mammoth, 606-yard first hole, which he followed with birdies at the third and fifth and answered his only bogey of the round at eight with another birdie at the ninth.
Colsaerts' 66 lifted him to eight under, where he was later joined by Fisher after he carded three birdies and an eagle at the ninth in a second consecutive 68, while overnight joint-leader Johnston did well to get his challenge back on track after an uncertain start to the back nine.
Johnston moved smoothly to eight under with birdies at the first, seventh and ninth, but he gave all three shots back in one hole as he made a mess of the 10th and ran up an ugly seven.
He birdied the long 12th only to get out of position again at the next and card a bogey-six, but the charismatic 27-year-old produced a strong finish with birdies at three of the last four holes to return a battling 69.
Henry looked to be heading for the halfway lead when he began with a birdie at the 10th and reeled off three in a row from the 14th before finding water with his wayward tee shot to the island green at the 17th and making a double-bogey five.
The Scot clawed both shots back at the first and fifth only to bogey the next two, but a closing birdie completed a 69 and got his to eight under along with Bjork, who enters the weekend as the leading home player after a five-birdie 68.
Lee Westwood made a dreadful start to the back nine as he dropped three shots in five holes before play was suspended for almost an hour due to the threat of lightning.
But the break clearly invigorated the veteran as he almost holed his tee shot to 16, rolled in a 25-foot putt for another birdie at 17 and he converted another pure iron to six feet at the last to salvage a 71 which left him six behind Fitzpatrick.
However, the weather delay had the opposite impact on Westwood's playing partner and home favourite Henrik Stenson, who was bogey free after a a flawless first 15 holes featuring four birdies before he bogeyed 16 and 18 to slip back to two under par.
