Matt Fitzpatrick did not let his omission from Europe’s Ryder Cup team knock him off track as he boosted hopes of a successful Omega European Masters title defence with a birdie-laden second round of 64.
The Englishman, who represented Europe at Hazeltine two years ago, was one of the contenders for a wild-card spot in Thomas Bjorn’s side for Paris but was this week overlooked by the Dane.
However, the 24-year-old found comfort back at the familiar surroundings of Crans-Sur-Sierre, where he won the most recent of his four European Tour titles 12 months ago, and also finished runner-up in 2015.
After a relatively low-key 69 on the first day, he found his touch in some style on Friday, overcoming a poor start that included bogey fives on the first and fourth to drain eight birdies in 14 holes.
That saw him sign for a six-under-par 64 — his 13th under-par round out of 16 at the Swiss mountain resort — and left him seven under for the tournament, two shots behind leader Hidesto Tanihara (66) of Japan and joint-second with Dane Lucas Bjerregaard (65) and American newcomer Doug Ghim (65).
For Paul Dunne it was a round of 70 to add to an opening 71 which saw him finish at one over par and miss the halfway cut.
Fitzpatrick told the European Tour: “It was a great day.
“Got off to a bad start. Two over through four but that is one reason why I love this golf course, you know you can get it back. You’ve got chances coming in, so I was delighted to take them.
“It is nice to be up at altitude here. I think it will be an exciting weekend.”
His compatriot Danny Willett, the 2015 champion who is without a tournament win since claiming the Masters in 2016, was also up amongst the frontrunners after a 66 left him in a group on six under which also included Scot Stephen Gallagher (66).
Overnight leader Maximilian Kieffer dropped back to five under after making a one-over-par 71 on Friday.
Thomas Pieters, who like Fitzpatrick had also been mooted as a possible Ryder Cup wild-card selection, had a day to forget.
The Belgian snapped his putter over his knee in frustration after twice finding water on the 14th and recording a quadruple-bogey nine, leaving him having to play the final few holes putting with a wedge.
Pieters ended up with a seven-over-par 77 and, at four over for the tournament, will not be involved this weekend.
Collated second round scores & totals in the European Tour Omega European Masters, Crans-sur-Sierre GC, Crans Montana, Switzerland (Irish in bold, par 70):
131 Hideto Tanihara (Jpn) 65 66
133 Lucas Bjerregaard (Den) 68 65, Doug Ghim (USA) 68 65, Matthew Fitzpatrick 69 64
134 Mike Lorenzo-Vera (Fra) 68 66, Stephen Gallacher 68 66, Haydn Porteous (Rsa) 69 65, Danny Willett 68 66
135 Soren Kjeldsen (Den) 65 70, S.S.P Chawrasia (Ind) 69 66, Thomas Aiken (Rsa) 68 67, Maximilian Kieffer (Ger) 64 71, Ashun Wu (Chn) 70 65, Nacho Elvira (Spa) 66 69, Alexander Levy (Fra) 67 68
136 Charl Schwartzel (Rsa) 67 69, Daniel Brooks 69 67, Ryan Fox (Nzl) 67 69, Julien Guerrier (Fra) 65 71, Matthew Southgate 69 67, Chase Koepka (USA) 71 65, David Drysdale 66 70, Romain Wattel (Fra) 69 67, Richard Sterne (Rsa) 69 67
137 Andrew Johnston 68 69, Matt Wallace 68 69, Nicolas Colsaerts (Bel) 71 66, Scott Jamieson 69 68, Andy Sullivan 65 72, Laurie Canter 68 69, Justin Walters (Rsa) 66 71, Erik Van Rooyen (Rsa) 66 71, Benjamin Hebert (Fra) 70 67, Nino Bertasio (Ita) 70 67, Lee Westwood 68 69
138 Chris Wood 68 70, Matthieu Pavon (Fra) 67 71, Callum Shinkwin 69 69, Josh Geary (Nzl) 68 70, Robert Karlsson (Swe) 69 69, Kiradech Aphibarnrat (Tha) 71 67, David Lipsky (USA) 68 70, Pedro Oriol (Spa) 72 66, Gavin Green (Mal) 69 69, Edoardo Molinari (Ita) 70 68
139 Marcus Kinhult (Swe) 70 69, Ross Fisher 70 69, Jorge Campillo (Spa) 74 65, Jaco Van Zyl (Rsa) 71 68, Mikko Korhonen (Fin) 69 70, Pablo Larrazabal (Spa) 67 72, Phachara Khongwatmai (Tha) 68 71, Adrien Saddier (Fra) 74 65, Scott Hend (Aus) 70 69, Christiaan Bezuidenhout (Rsa) 71 68, Austin Connelly (Can) 70 69, Gregory Havret (Fra) 69 70, David Horsey 70 69, Richard McEvoy 72 67, Darren Fichardt (Rsa) 68 71, George Coetzee (Rsa) 69 70, Lee Slattery 68 71, James Morrison 70 69, Ricardo Gonzalez (Arg) 71 68,Andres Romero (Arg) 72 67, Jeunghun Wang (Kor) 71 68, Fabrizio Zanotti (Pry) 69 70
The following players missed the cut:
140 Ricardo Gouveia (Por) 70 70, Lasse Jensen (Den) 73 67, David Howell 71 69, Matthew Baldwin 70 70, Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano (Spa) 71 69, Oliver Fisher 69 71, Brett Rumford (Aus) 70 70, Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa) 74 66, Connor Syme 74 66, Jamie Donaldson 69 71, Adrian Otaegui (Spa) 71 69, Oliver Farr 71 69
141 Richard Bland 70 71, Richie Ramsay 72 69, Clement Sordet (Fra) 73 68, Joakim Lagergren (Swe) 69 72, Bradley Neil 71 70, Aaron Rai 67 74, Shubhankar Sharma (Ind) 72 69, Sam Horsfield 72 69, Paul Dunne 71 70, Andrea Pavan (Ita) 70 71, Jens Dantorp (Swe) 70 71
142 Jason Scrivener (Aus) 69 73, Robert Rock 68 74, Dean Burmester (Rsa) 69 73, Ashley Chesters 68 74, Martin Kaymer (Ger) 69 73, Wade Ormsby (Aus) 70 72, Thomas Detry (Bel) 67 75
143 Haotong Li (Chn) 72 71, Chris Hanson 73 70, Matteo Manassero (Ita) 71 72, Benjamin Rusch (a) (Swi) 68 75, Andrew Dodt (Aus) 73 70, Sam Brazel (Aus) 73 70, Nicola Gerhardsen (a) (Swi) 72 71
144 Christofer Blomstrand (Swe) 69 75, Charlie Ford 74 70, Matthew Nixon 71 73, Renato Paratore (Ita) 74 70, Gerold Folk (a) (Aut) 73 71, Tapio Pulkkanen (Fin) 74 70, Adam Bland (Aus) 72 72, Marcel Siem (Ger) 72 72, Mathias Eggenberger (a) (Swi) 74 70, Thomas Pieters (Bel) 67 77
145 Mikko Ilonen (Fin) 71 74, Paul Waring 71 74, Sebastian Heisele (Ger) 73 72, Henric Sturehed (Swe) 71 74, Matthias Schwab (Aut) 71 74, Jeff Winther (Den) 70 75, Rak hyun Cho (Kor) 75 70, Alejandro Canizares (Spa) 72 73, Lorenzo Gagli (Ita) 72 73, Bradley Dredge 71 74
146 Steven Brown 78 68, Scott Fernandez (Spa) 72 74, Jonathan Thomson 74 72, Kim Koivu (Fin) 70 76, Raphael Jacquelin (Fra) 77 69, Raphael Ger Sousa (Swi) 74 72, Ryan Evans 74 72, Soomin Lee (Kor) 71 75, Marcus Fraser (Aus) 75 71
147 Marc Warren 71 76, Luca Galliano (Swi) 73 74
148 Felipe Aguilar (Chi) 73 75, Gregory Bourdy (Fra) 69 79, Jonas Blixt (Swe) 72 76
149 Mathias Gronberg (Swe) 74 75, Carlos Pigem (Spa) 77 72, Jacques Kruyswijk (Rsa) 74 75, Jin-ho Choi (Kor) 75 74
150 Jason Norris (Aus) 79 71, Daniel Im (USA) 72 78, Robert Foley (a) (Swi) 74 76, Yusaku Miyazato (Jpn) 78 72, Thongchai Jaidee (Tha) 75 75
151 Pelle Edberg (Swe) 77 74
152 John Daly (USA) 77 75, Marc Dobias (Swi) 78 74
153 Zander Lombard (Rsa) 74 79
155 Cedric Gugler (a) (Swi) 80 75
156 Loris Schupbach (a) (Swi) 74 82
