Belgium’s Thomas Pieters established a two shot clubhouse lead on the second morning of the D+D REAL Czech Masters.
After three birdies in his first four holes, the 23 year old recovered from bogeys on the 15th and 16th.
A gain on the first was followed by a 20 foot birdie on the third and another from close range after an excellent approach to the fourth.
That added up to a four under par 68 and ten under par halfway total at Albatross Golf Resort, enough for a two shot lead over Denmark’s Thorbjorn Olesen.
“I played another solid day,” said Pieters, who began the day one off the lead after an opening 66.
“I hit it well off the tee; I gave myself a lot of opportunities.
“The course suits me - some of these tee shots really suit my eye. I’m striking the ball well off the tee which helps. Thomas Pieters
“I made a couple of stupid bogeys but I hit it really well again off the tee. Some of the wedges I hit really close, which gave me chances for birdies and I rolled in a few putts.”
Pieters was a runner-up at last year’s Open de España, but despite a few near misses is still looking for a first European Tour title.
“You’ve got to patient on Friday and Saturday and just get into contention,” he added. “I just tried to give myself plenty of opportunities and hopefully I can have a good weekend.
“We all practise hard to be here and I’ve worked hard the last few weeks, so it is nice to see a low score on there.”
Olesen won a second European Tour title in Perth at the end of last year, but has so far failed to fire in 2015 and had missed nine of his last ten cuts coming into the event.
“I’ve been working hard the last three months and right now I feel more comfortable on the golf course,” he saiud after a round of 69.
“I stand up and hit the ball, but I was a bit nervous on the front nine, which is why I hit a few bad tee shots, but I felt more comfortable after that.
“It is a good thing when people believe in you and think you can do good things, but it has been tough the last three months when you know you can play good golf but you can’t get it in the hole. It’s been really tough but that is why it was so important to battle of the front nine today.
“It’s a big relief and satisfaction that I kept going after some bad shots and played better on the back nine. It was nice to finish stronger and get myself in contention.
“It’s nice to be up there again; it has been a while for me. I’ll go out there tomorrow and try to loosen up and have some fun and let it happen.”
Out on the course former amateur star Matt Fitzpatrick moved into third place on seven under with a birdie on the third, with Sweden’s Rikard Karlberg, overnight joint-leader Renato Paratore and England’s Ben Stow a shot further back in the clubhouse.
