Rhys Davies leads at the halfway stage of the Hassan II Trophy after recording his lowest score yet on the European Tour.
Welshman fires best-ever Tour round to go clear in Morocco
Rhys Davies holds a two-stroke lead at the halfway stage of the Hassan II Trophy after recording his lowest score to date on the European Tour.
The 24-year-old Welshman followed up his opening 68 with an eight-under-par 64 in Morocco to move to a 13 under for the tournament.
Leading the chase are former Ryder Cup pair Thomas Levet and Ignacio Garrido and South African Louis Oosthuizen.
But first-round leader Nick Dougherty, who like Davies switched from the Red course at Royal Dar Es Salam to the shorter and easier Blue, dropped to joint-fifth place after carding a three-under 69.
Contrasting
Davies was a team-mate of Rory McIlroy at the 2007 Walker Cup but their respective debuts in the pro ranks were in marked contrast to one another.
While McIlroy was an instant hit in the paid ranks - he secured a Tour card in a mere three starts - Davies failed on his first two trips to the qualifying school.
However, the Bridgend player finally made the breakthrough and the last 12 months have been spent gradually building career momentum.
"This time last year I didn't really have any status in Europe but I managed to get a win on the Challenge Tour and everything sort of spiralled from there," said Davies, who also finished third in the Malaysian Open two weeks ago.
"It's been really good the last 12 months. I am feeling very confident. You play golf to play well and to get to the top of the leaderboard.
"I think if you don't enjoy it at the top you wouldn't really want to do it."
As for his round on Friday, Davies added: "It went great. I rolled some really good putts in and overall it was a good day's work."
Oosthuizen matched his 64, while Frenchman Levet returned a 65 and Spaniard Garrido a 67.
Still in contention
Dougherty had a hat-trick of birdies from the 15th and was four under for the round with seven to go, but played the remaining holes in one over.
He said: "I didn't play great. The Blue course is quite a bit easier and I didn't capitalise on it, but three under is not too bad and I'm still in contention.
"I've not put two good rounds together in a long while and I'm proud of my performance."
Meanwhile, Paul McGinley missed the cut in his first tournament since a sixth knee operation last November.
