Romain Wattel will take a one-stroke lead into the weekend of the GAC Rosa Challenge Tour at Rosa Golf Club in Poland.
The Frenchman impressed on day two in Konopiska, carding six birdies without a bogey to reach nine under par for the week, one clear of four others who share second at the top of a congested leaderboard.
Wattel made a fast start to day two, birdieing two of his opening three holes before adding a further gain at the sixth to turn in three under par.
Back-to-back gains followed on the tenth and 11th before a closing birdie on 18 saw him edge in front after 36 holes.
“It was really important for me to start well, to make sure you’re not battling to make the cut or to be under pressure too quickly,” he said.
“It was a nice start and I played really good all round. Then hole 18 is a really tough hole and a birdie on there is always a bonus.
“I’m really happy. I played good golf today and made some good putts.”
Wattel won as an amateur on the HotelPlanner Tour back in 2010, before going on to become a winner on the DP World Tour five years later in the KLM Open.
The 34-year-old is hoping to mount a title charge over the weekend but is expecting a difficult test with several players within striking distance.
“It’s really packed at the top so anything can happen,” he added. “The guys now shoot low scores every day so I will have to play good golf.
“Every day it’s a different course with the wind and the pin positions, so we’ll see tomorrow. I won’t change anything, just try to hit fairways and hopefully get some opportunities on the greens.
“It’s always important to have good finishes, so I’ll just try to do my best and we’ll see on Sunday.”
Swede Hugo Townsend, South African Bryce Easton, Germany’s Anton Albers and Italian Renato Paratore – who could earn automatic promotion to the DP World Tour with a third win of the season this week – share second place on eight under par.
Sam Jones from New Zealand and Portuguese Pedro Figueiredo, who fired a round-of-the-week eight under par 62 on day two, are one shot further back in sixth.
The third round of the GAC Rosa Challenge Tour gets under way tomorrow at 8:00am local time, with Wattel teeing off alongside Townsend and Easton at 11:44am.
