England’s Benn Barham and Frenchman Francois Delamontagne, two players chasing their maiden European Tour titles, set the early pace in the second round of the BMW International Open.
Barham birdied three of the last four holes at Golfclub München Eichenried for a four under par 68 to move to eight under par 136 and alongside Delamontagne, who had earlier come in with a 66 despite needing medical attention out on the course suffering from stomach pains.
“After I called the doctor afterwards I was a little bit better, but I was tired as well,” said Delamontagne. “It my fifth event in a row, so I think I need a good rest this afternoon.”
Delamontagne finished in the top ten in his last two events and continued the good form with a flawless six birdie round
“I played great today. I hit the ball fantastic and the driving is solid. I've got an incredible iron game and the putting was better on the back nine. So, honestly, it was a big pleasure to play like this.”
Barham, who claimed his highest finish of the season when he claimed joint fourth place in the Celtic Manor Wales Open three weeks ago, is also hitting form.
“I had a good result at Wales, so hopefully I'll carry the form on through to the end of the summer,” he said. “I had a fairly slow start today but played well towards the end and putted well. I didn't hit the ball that great but my short game has been awesome this week so far. And my putting has been real good. So it feels good.”
Another Englishman, Graeme Storm, finished a shot further back despite a late arrival at the BMW International in Munich to go to a Boyzone concert in Newcastle on Tuesday night.
The Hartlepool golfer, who partnered Ronan Keating in a pro-am last year and was offered the chance to watch him in action, added a 69 to his opening 68.
"It was the first chance for my wife and I to go out since we had the baby (two months ago) and Ronan invited us backstage and we had drinks afterwards," he said.
"It was the first concert I have ever been to. It's never really been my thing, but they put on a fantastic show."
Storm, sixth in the World Golf Championships - CA Championship in Florida in March, does not feel back to that form yet despite his start this week. It showed in the fact that as well as having eight birdies this morning there were also five bogeys.
"Just silly mistakes, but I enjoyed myself out there," he said. "I made a late decision to play and to be paired with Retief Goosen and John Daly was a thrill."
After a second successive 69 Goosen is six under along with the English trio of Paul Casey, David Howell and Ross Fisher, Swede Pelle Edberg and Dutchman Maarten Lafeber, but Daly's second 72 meant he was destined to miss the halfway cut on level par.
