Knut Borsheim followed up his stunning opening round 62 with a six under par 65 to move three shots clear after the second day of the Mugello Tuscany Open in Italy.
The Norwegian could not quite shoot the lights out like he did on the opening day, when a Challenge Tour season low front nine of 28 - eight under par – helped him to a nine under par round but he did carry that momentum into day two as he opened with birdies at the first and second.
The 26 year old picked up another shot at the fifth to reach the turn in three under before another pair of back to back birdies at the 11th and 12th were followed by a bogey, but Borsheim finished with a pair of birdies at the 17th and 18th to card another superb round at UNA Poggio dei Medici Golf Club.
“I am really happy with the way I played today,” said Borsheim, who moved to 15 under with a combined total of 127 – the lowest first 36 hole score of the season on the Challenge Tour.
“I wasn’t feeling too good this morning because it was really warm and I didn’t feel like I had much energy when I woke up but I managed to rest up and conserve some energy before I teed off.
“I was really steady. I made some nice birdies and when I missed the green I made some really nice up and downs for par so it was very solid.
“It’s really nice to follow up such a good round with another one. I just tried to go out there and do the same as what I did on the first day and it is often hard to follow up a great round with another good one.”
Borsheim’s rise to prominence in 2011 came largely thanks to a second-placed finish at the lucrative Kazakhstan Open, a big performance which seemed to come from nowhere considering he had not even recorded a top 30 in seven appearances prior to that.
While the man from Bergen in Norway has recorded a third place finish already this year, it has been a mixed season thus far, but he believes he can once again pull a massive result out of the hat and emulate his compatriot Espen Kofstad - who had such a stunning season in 2012, finishing top of the Challenge Tour Rankings.
“That was funny in Kazakhstan in 2011 because if I didn’t do well that week it would have been my last appearance before Qualifying School three months later because I was playing on invites,” he said.
“That result changed my career really and I feel like I’m getting back to that form now. Espen’s success last year was a real relief for me because I play with him a lot and it gives me the feeling that I can win too on the Challenge Tour.”
Floris de Vries was the only player within touching distance of the leader as he moved to within three shots of Borsheim on 12 under par thanks to a seven under par second round 64, after opening with a 66.
There were three players four shots further back on eight under par, seven shots off the top, as Englishman Phillip Archer (68), South Africa’s Dylan Frittelli (69) and Jamie McLeary of Scotland (68) all shared third place going into the weekend.
