Mallorca Classic: Paul Broadhurst grabbed the halfway lead in the €1.5 million Mallorca Classic at Pula yesterday, while Ireland's Damien McGrane and Gary Murphy boosted their chances of making the line-up for next week's end-of-season tournament at Valderrama.
However, the European Tour career of another former Ryder Cup star was left hanging by a thread. While Broadhurst was adding a 66 to his opening 67 for a seven-under-under par total of 133, one better than Jose Maria Olazabal, Swede Jarmo Sandelin needs the weekend of his life to avoid a return to the tour qualifying school.
Sandelin, part of Europe's team against the Americans in Boston only six years ago, feared the worst when he went out of bounds and triple-bogeyed the 12th, then three-putted the last for a 73.
"The pain is over - a new life as a taxi driver begins," he said gloomily as he handed in his scorecard. But nearly five hours later the cut went to four over par and he had survived right on the limit.
That was the good news. The bad is that he has to climb into the top four over the closing 36 holes to move from 139th on the Order of Merit into the leading 116 who keep their cards for next season.
"I was out of bounds twice and that cost me four shots," he added. "My new swing is so much better and I'm hitting many, many more brilliant shots, but it's like somebody is playing the destiny game with me."
Broadhurst can sympathise. Unbeaten in the 1991 Ryder Cup, he lost his card in 2001 and required two trips to the qualifying school to get it back. If he had failed that second time he might well have quit.
How things have changed. At the age of 40 the English midlander is enjoying the most lucrative season of his career.
Broadhurst had his first victory for a decade at the Portuguese Open in April and was reminded of that week by the way he felt coming into this tournament.
After seven birdies in his first 12 holes on the short but tricky layout, Broadhurst led by five.
But he went into the lake on the 392-yard 14th for a double bogey six, and Olazabal's joint best-of-the-day 65 lifted him onto the heels of his former Ryder Cup team-mate.
McGrane, in 61st place in the Order of Merit, added a second round 71 to his opening 72 for a 143 total and a good two final days should see him at Valderrama next week, while Murphy (77th), after an opening 66, slipped back with a 74 for a level par total of 140.
