Canter maintains momentum on Mallorca

Laurie Canter continued his fine recent form and then revealed he had been playing through the pain as he fired a 66 in tough conditions on day two of the 2021 Mallorca Golf Open.

The Englishman enjoyed his best Rolex Series result as he finished second at last month's BMW PGA Championship and then took a three shot lead into the final round at last week's Estrella Damm N.A. Andalucía Masters before finishing in a tie for fourth.

But he revealed at Golf Santa Ponsa that he had been playing much of the season through injury and, now fully fit, was looking for a big finish to the 2021 Race to Dubai.

"The beginning to middle of the year I was carrying a couple of little injuries that were not going away," he said. "Right up until Wentworth I was really struggling with it, to be honest.

"I've started to play a little bit more pain free so that's meant I can do a bit more practice, a bit more work. I've felt my game has come on a lot as a result of that.

"If I can play the rest of this event and the rest of the year pretty healthy, that would be awesome. Hopefully if I get the right breaks I can put myself up there in some events and contend."

With much higher winds than on day one, many of the field were left treading water in the second round, but Canter carded six birdies and two bogeys to once again put himself in contention.

"I'm happy with that, to be honest," he said. "I hung in there well. On a day like this you don't have the same control of the ball. I did my best to control the ball, get myself in the right positions and then scramble a little bit.

"Even though there is space off the tee, it does help to be on the fairways. You can catch some fliers from the rough because the greens are so small.

"It does help with pick and place, you can put the ball down and control it into the greens.

"Hopefully I just keep hitting a lot of fairways and give myself chances with the irons."