Thorbjørn Olesen was in confident mood after a second-round 66 put him in an excellent position to contend over the weekend at the Nordea Masters.
The Dane arrived at Hills Golf Club off the back of five top 15s in his last eight starts, a run that began when he claimed his maiden Rolex Series victory at the Italian Open.
That brilliant spell of form has put him on the bubble for the Ryder Cup Team on both the World and European Points Lists, and another victory this week could well go a long way to securing his place at Le Golf National.
Opening rounds of 68-66 left the five-time European Tour winner six under after 36 holes in Gothenburg, and Olesen believes his game in good shape to claim a second victory of the season.
“I would like to keep playing like I did today over the next few days,” he said. “If I can keep swinging the club the way I did today and keep playing like that, I think I'll have a chance on Sunday.”
If I can keep swinging the club the way I did today and keep playing like that, I think I'll have a chance on Sunday -Thorbjørn Olesen
Olesen birdied the 12th before a run of four in a row from the 15th catapulted him up the leaderboard.
He then sandwiched a birdie on the third with bogeys on the first and eighth on the front nine.
“The first 11 or 12 holes were really tough,” he said. “The wind was blowing like yesterday afternoon so it was quite tricky but I stroked the ball beautifully today. I was swinging the club really nice, middle of the fairways, attacking the pins but I just didn't really get it going,
“I feel like I could have been really low today.”
Martin Kaymer was also at six under after a 67 on day two that contained seven birdies and four bogeys.
The former World Number One's last victory came when he claimed his second Major at the 2014 US Open but Kaymer does not believe he is far from winning again.
“I'm very close to another win,” he said. “Today I made too many unforced errors. I made four bogeys today and still shot three under par. The game is there, I just need to avoid those - I don't want to say silly mistakes - more unnecessary ones.
“I went back to the range yesterday after the round, hit a few drives and tried to figure out what the problem was yesterday. I think the ball was just too far right and I put the ball a bit further left today and drove it a lot better.
“Once you hit the fairways here you have so many chances and I putt really well right now. So if I keep hitting fairways and the putter stays the way it is then it should be fine.”
