Sweden’s Mikael Lundberg followed up his opening-round 67 with a 4-under 68 to stay atop the leader board at the Lyoness Open in Austria on Friday.
A four-time Euro Tour winner, Lundberg has since dropped to No. 872 in the world and is well outside the top 60 in the Race to Dubai – currently No. 177.
But he was top dog at Lyoness again on Friday, rattling off four straight birdies in the early going and only hitting one bogey for a second straight day.
He has a one-stroke lead over England’s Matt Slattery, whose 6-under 66 was the best round of the day and got to him 8-under for the tournament. Slattery was 3-under at the turn, and made his move with a birdie on No. 15 followed by an eagle 3 on the 591-yard No. 16. On Thursday, Slattery bogeyed the last two holes to finish with a 70, but he parred both on Friday.
Paraguay’s Fabrizio Zanotti is third at 7-under, followed by Korea’s Sihwan Kim at 6-under.
Last year’s Lyoness Open champion, Joost Luiten, is tied for fifth at 5-under. Luiten followed up his opening round 72 with a 5-under 67 to jump 29 places on the leader board.
Lundberg’s Day One co-leader, England’s Adam Gee, fell back to a tie for seventh after going 1-over with a 73; Gee had three birdies in his first four holes, then suffered four bogeys in a six-hole span.
Spain’s Miguel Angel Jimenez, the only player in the Race to Dubai’s Top 10 in the field this weekend, fell 23 spots to a tie for 37th and is 1-over after struggling to hit a 75 on Friday.