Joint overnight leader Martin Wiegele took the outright lead this morning at the Saint-Omer Open presented by Neuflize OBC.
The Austrian, eighth on The Challenge Tour rankings after victory in his native Austria at the start of the month, shot a five under par 66 yesterday to share the lead with Ireland's Colm Moriarty.
Starting on the 10th today, Wiegele parred his first nine holes but birdied the first, his tenth, to go one shot clear of Moriarty who was still to begin his second round.
Moriarty was hoping to build on yesterday's impressive start which augmented a fine year for the Irishman.
“I've actually played ok - I've been on the fringes of contending a few times, but have just dropped back,” he said.
“In this game, there's very little difference between being right up there and finishing mid-division. But I'm in a good position after the first round, so hopefully I can keep it going and have a few good days.
“I've been happy with my game, but just a couple of little errors have cost me dearly. A few shots better every week and I probably would've recorded a few top ten finishes, so if I can cut them out then I should be in for a good week.”
England's Jamie Elson was third on four under - also his score today - one shot ahead of a five way share of fourth featuring fellow Englishman Robert Dinwiddie on three under today.
