FRANCE'S Romain Langasque claimed a share of the halfway lead in the Omega European Masters as he chased a first European Tour title just months after turning professional.
Langasque added a flawless 63 to his opening 68 at Crans-sur-Sierre to finish nine under par, a total later matched by England's Richard Bland and Australia's Richard Green.
The 21-year-old Langasque only turned professional after finishing 39th in the Masters in April, his trip to Augusta National secured by winning the Amateur Championship at Carnoustie last year.
But the world number 209 is already set to earn his full European Tour card via the Challenge Tour – he tops the rankings after six top-five finishes – and could secure a two-year exemption with victory in the Swiss Alps.
"This is really cool, but that's what I want to do every week, so I will do my best now and we will see," Langasque said after a round containing five birdies and an eagle.
"I'm quite sure I will be on the European Tour next year, so I play without pressure. If I play good that's cool and if I play bad then it is no problem. I have nothing to lose. I have no pressure and maybe that's why I can play good."
In contrast to Langasque, Bland and Green have played more than 800 European Tour events between them, with Bland still seeking his first victory.
The 43-year-old carded seven birdies and one bogey in his 64, while left-hander Green – whose last of three wins came in 2010 – held the outright lead after a hat-trick of birdies from the 13th before dropping his only shot of the day on the 17th.
Sweden's Alex Noren matched Langasque's 63 to share fourth place with Australian Scott Hend and Canada's Richard Lee on eight under, with England's Andrew Johnston part of a five-strong group another stroke behind.
Defending champion Danny Willett had also been just two off the lead when he recovered from a bogey on the fourth with birdies on the sixth, seventh and ninth, but bogeyed the next two holes and then ran up a quadruple-bogey on the 12th after twice finding the water short of the green.
Willett bounced back with birdies on the 14th and 18th to finish three under par and saw playing partner and Ryder Cup team-mate Matt Fitzpatrick produce an even better finish to make the cut.
Fitzpatrick was seven over par for his first 14 holes on Thursday and eventually signed for a 75, but went 10 shots better on Friday and survived on the mark of level par thanks to four birdies in the last five holes.
The final member of the Ryder Cup threesome, Andy Sullivan, almost pulled off the same feat after an opening 74, only to see his birdie chip on the 18th catch the edge of the hole and stay out. Sullivan's 67 meant he missed the cut by a shot.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here