image=”1″ align=”left” /> Stephen Gallacher and Thomas Bjorn share the lead at the halfway stage of the European Masters in Crans-sur-Sierre on 10-under par. Gallacher followed up his opening round of 67 with a six-under 65 to sit joint top of the leaderboard going into the weekend in Switzerland. The Scot&aposs day started perfectly with a birdie on the opening hole and he collected another three before the turn. A further trio of birdies came on the back nine, but his scorecard was blotted by a bogey on the par-four 17th, where he also dropped a shot on Thursday. Bjorn matched his opening-round score of 66 to move level with Gallacher, with the pair a shot clear of the pack. Despite dropping a shot on the 18th, six birdies before that set the Dane on course for another good round. “I played better today,” he said. “At the end, it was not the prettiest but I played alright and just kept my patience. “I told myself not to make any stupid bogeys this week because everybody&aposs going to do that. I made one down the last, which is the first one, but it is just one of those things. “I am happy with how I am playing; I played steady without being spectacular.” A group of five players sit one shot back and will be confident that they can mount a challenge for the title on Sunday. England&aposs Danny Willett marched into contention with a 64 on Friday his round including an eagle three at the opening hole. France&aposs Victor Dubuisson, Spaniard Miguel Angel Jimenez, and English duo Richard Finch and Tommy Fleetwood join Willett on nine-under par after solid second-round displays. Overnight leader Anirban Lahiri had a tougher second round and failed to build on his first-round score of eight-under par after recording a score of 71. The 26-year-old Indian started well, with two birdies in the opening three holes, however, bogeys at four and eight dropped him back. A birdie at 14 looked like getting him a round of 69 but a disastrous effort on the par-three 16th – which he double bogeyed – saw him drop back to par. Australia&aposs Brett Rumford is within striking distance at six under after he managed a 68 while Scott Hend (-3), Marcus Fraser (-2), Kieran Pratt (-2) and Andrew Dodt (-1) are well off the pace. With the cut drawn at level par, European Ryder Cup members Francesco Molinari and Darren Clarke have not made it to the weekend. Defending champion Richie Ramsay of Scotland also missed the cut, finishing on two over.
Author: Omnisport