England's Laurie Canter holds a one-shot lead in the Catalunya Championship as he seeks a first DP World Tour title at a happy hunting ground.
Canter earned his Tour card at PGA Catalunya in both 2015 and 2016 and again demonstrated his liking of the Stadium Course with a second round of 67, the lowest score of the day.
That gave the 32-year-old from Bath a halfway total of seven under par, with compatriot James Morrison and South Africa's Oliver Bekker on six under following rounds of 71 and 72 respectively.
Former Ryder Cup captain Thomas Bjorn is two shots off the pace, the 51-year-old Dane adding a second round of 70 to his opening 69.
Canter, who followed a birdie on the par-three fifth hole by holing his approach to the next for an eagle two, said: “I was in between clubs on the sixth and ended up going with a slightly shorter one, just hoped it jumped out of the rough.
“It came out well and, to be honest, it looked like it might be a bit long, but one bounce, two bounces and it disappeared.
“It’s such a long week but to play well and compete you need things to go your way and that was definitely a great break.
“I feel like I’ve spent half my life in this part of Spain, I think I’ve been to the qualifying school six or seven times. I know it well, know a few of the local restaurants, [so] you feel comfortable.
“I love this golf course, I love the facilities and everything about it. It’s genuinely a bit of a privilege to play it. I think it’s a really special place.”
New Zealand's Ryan Fox, who led from start to finish to win the Ras Al Khaimah Classic in February, was part of the five-strong group on five under after a 68 containing six birdies and two bogeys.
“I’ve been in a winning position not too long ago and handled it really well,” Fox said. “I know I can handle the pressure on the weekend and I can take a lot of confidence from that.”
Jonathan Caldwell was the only one of four Irish golfers in action to make the cut, a one-under 71 leaving him on level par, seven shots off the lead. His fellow Northern Ireland golfers Tom McKibbin (76) and Cormac Sharvin (75) missed out, as dis Kilkenny amateur Luke Donnelly after an 81.
Leaderboard
British and Irish unless stated, par 72
137 Laurie Canter 70 67
138 James Morrison 67 71, Oliver Bekker (Rsa) 66 72
139 Ryan Fox (Nzl) 71 68, Daniel Gavins 69 70, Thomas Bjorn (Den) 69 70, Ivan Cantero (Spa) 71 68, Adrien Saddier (Fra) 70 69
140 Thorbjoern Olesen (Den) 69 71, Mikko Korhonen (Fin) 70 70, Maverick Antcliff (Aus) 72 68, Darren Fichardt (Rsa) 66 74, Ricardo Gouveia (Por) 69 71, Marcel Schneider (Ger) 71 69, Sebastian Heisele (Ger) 67 73
141 Pablo Larrazabal (Spa) 72 69, Ewen Ferguson 71 70, Nicolai Hoejgaard (Den) 69 72, Jeff Winther (Den) 66 75, David Law 72 69, Nicolai von Dellingshausen (Ger) 70 71, Niklas Noergaard Moeller (Den) 71 70, Richard McEvoy 69 72, Raphael Jacquelin (Fra) 71 70, Richard Mansell 70 71
142 Thriston Lawrence (Rsa) 70 72, Hennie Du Plessis (Rsa) 68 74, Adrian Meronk (Pol) 71 71, Edoardo Molinari (Ita) 73 69, Matthias Schmid (Ger) 71 71, Lukas Nemecz (Aut) 68 74, Gavin Green (Mal) 71 71, David Coupland 73 69, Jean-Baptiste Gonnet (Fra) 68 74
143 Sami Valimaki (Fin) 73 70, Andrea Pavan (Ita) 71 72, Tapio Pulkkanen (Fin) 72 71, Wil Besseling (Ned) 73 70, Justin Walters (Rsa) 69 74, Sebastian Garcia (Spa) 72 71, David Drysdale 69 74, Julien Brun (Fra) 68 75, Yannik Paul (Ger) 70 73, Haotong Li (Chn) 67 76, Lorenzo Gagli (Ita) 71 72, Bernd Wiesberger (Aut) 73 70
144 Richard Bland 73 71, Jonathan Caldwell 73 71, Alejandro Del Rey (Spa) 72 72, Adria Arnaus (Spa) 68 76, Jordan Smith 71 73, Darius van Driel (Ned) 73 71, Ross Fisher 72 72, Niklas Lemke (Swe) 73 71
145 Ashun Wu (Chn) 75 70, Jorge Campillo (Spa) 71 74, Daniel van Tonder (Rsa) 75 70, Angel Hidalgo (Spa) 71 74, Alexander Bjoerk (Swe) 73 72, Guido Migliozzi (Ita) 72 73, Marcus Helligkilde (Den) 70 75, Espen Kofstad (Nor) 72 73, Hurly Long (Ger) 73 72, David Howell 73 72
146 Rasmus Hoejgaard (Den) 72 74, Grant Forrest 70 76, Jason Scrivener (Aus) 74 72, Jazz Janewattananond (Tha) 76 70, Alejandro Canizares (Spa) 72 74, Oliver Wilson 73 73, Ricardo Santos (Por) 70 76, Lars van Meijel (Ned) 72 74
Missed cut
147 Joachim B. Hansen (Den) 70 77, Johannes Veerman (USA) 71 76, Ignacio Elvira (Spa) 75 72, John Catlin (USA) 76 71, Pedro Oriol (Spa) 75 72, Marc Warren 76 71, Jack Singh-Brar 75 72, Eddie Pepperell 73 74, Michael Lorenzo-Vera (Fra) 73 74, Oliver Farr 73 74, Zander Lombard (Rsa) 72 75, Ross McGowan 73 74, Shiv Chawrasia (Ind) 76 71, Joel Stalter (Fra) 71 76
148 Victor Perez (Fra) 74 74, Marcus Kinhult (Swe) 75 73, Eduardo de la Riva (Spa) 73 75, Tom McKibbin 72 76, Adrian Otaegui (Spa) 74 74, Rikard Karlberg (Swe) 72 76, Julien Guerrier (Fra) 72 76, Dale Whitnell 77 71, Chris Paisley 73 75, Frederic Lacroix (Fra) 72 76, Daan Huizing (Ned) 77 71, Renato Paratore (Ita) 72 76, Robin Roussel (Fra) 74 74, Pep Angles (Spa) 71 77, Joel Sjoeholm (Swe) 77 71, Benjamin Poke (Den) 76 72
149 Scott Hend (Aus) 73 76, Sean Crocker (USA) 77 72, Joakim Lagergren (Swe) 75 74, Fabrizio Zanotti (Pry) 71 78, Richie Ramsay 73 76, Wade Ormsby (Aus) 80 69, Joost Luiten (Ned) 74 75, Lucas Bjerregaard (Den) 71 78, Tom Lewis 75 74
150 Francesco Laporta (Ita) 77 73, Andy Sullivan 76 74, Matthew Jordan 74 76, Matthew Southgate 75 75, Romain Langasque (Fra) 72 78, Andrew Wilson 72 78, Benjamin Hebert (Fra) 74 76, Ashley Chesters 75 75, Alvaro Quiros (Spa) 74 76, Oliver Fisher 76 74, Pedro Figueiredo (Por) 75 75
151 David Horsey 77 74, Callum Shinkwin 74 77, Scott Jamieson 78 73, Jacques Kruyswijk (Rsa) 72 79, Garrick Porteous 74 77, Robin Sciot-Siegrist (Fra) 74 77
152 Antoine Rozner (Fra) 71 81, Eduard Rousaud (Spa) 77 75, Shubhankar Sharma (Ind) 80 72, Jack Senior 75 77, Santiago Tarrio (Spa) 75 77, Hugo Leon (Chi) 74 78, Zach Murray (Aus) 72 80, Svn-Hwan Kim (USA) 72 80
153 Marcus Armitage 78 75, Richard Sterne (Rsa) 77 76, Ben Stow 75 78
154 Sebastian Soederberg (Swe) 80 74, Connor Syme 75 79, Chase Hanna (USA) 78 76, Marcel Siem (Ger) 77 77, Cormac Sharvin 79 75, Graeme Storm 82 72, Aaron Cockerill (Can) 80 74
155 Matthieu Pavon (Fra) 81 74, Kalle Samooja (Fin) 76 79, Carlos Pigem (Spa) 76 79
156 Jamie Donaldson 76 80
157 Luke Donnelly (am) 76 81
159 Matt Ford 80 79
160 Brandon Stone (Rsa) 80 80, Soeren Kjeldsen (Den) 77 83
163 Haydn Porteous (Rsa) 81 82
166 Chris Wood 78 88
