Sergio Garcia heads into the weekend with a chance of a second successive European Tour victory.
After capturing his home Castelló Masters by a remarkable 11 strokes on Sunday, the 31 year old Spanish star had his second successive 70 at Club de Golf Valderrama to stand two under par at the halfway point of the Andalucía Masters.
That did not compare to his 27 under aggregate last week, but on the much tougher 1997 Ryder Cup course he was the early clubhouse leader.
Scotland's Richie Ramsay still led, but had slipped back from six to five under with a front nine 36 containing bogeys at the third and sixth, but then a birdie at the 350 yard eighth.The Scotsman, third behind Garcia in Castellón, was one in front of France's Grégory Havret and three ahead of Garcia and Stephen Gallacher.
The obvious highlight for Garcia was a chip-in for the second day running on the long 11th, although it was for birdie rather than eagle this time.
Justin Rose, paired with his former Ryder Cup teammate, birdied the first two holes on each half, but after a hat-trick of bogeys from the 15th signed for a 71 and one over total.
“A very consistent round,” said Garcia. “I made a couple of nice par saves.
“I could have been a little bit more aggressive with a couple of putts coming in, but it was quite windy and some of the putts were extremely quick. All in all it was a good, positive one under par.
“A back to back win would be a great thing, but I don’t want to get ahead of myself. We had a great week last week, we have a nice week up to now, but Valderrama can catch you any time - you can never think that you have this course under control.
“Valderrama is definitely one of the trickiest courses on Tour, even without wind.”
