Ewen Ferguson was delighted to be enjoying his golf again as he fired a brilliant 64 to open up a two-shot lead after two rounds at the BMW International Open.
There were emotional scenes on the last as German great Bernhard Langer bid farewell to the DP World Tour but at the top of the leaderboard, Ferguson was making headlines of his own in Bavaria.
The Scotsman has been struggling with vertigo and retired from the European Open last month but bounced back with two top-30s and rounds of 67-64 have put him in control at Golfclub München Eichenried.
Ferguson led by five at 13 under after he finished his round on Friday but Frenchman Romain Langasque carded a 65 in the afternoon to get to 11 under and trim the advantage.
English duo Jordan Smith and Matthew Southgate, Australian David Micheluzzi, American Patrick Reed and Austrian Bernd Wiesberger were at eight under.
Ferguson had a breakthrough season in 2022 after graduating from the European Challenge Tour, winning twice, and has been a picture of consistency on Tour ever since.
He has not missed a cut since January, registering two top tens, but revealed the vertigo has made his season a struggle at times.
"It’s been quite tough, struggling with vertigo," he said. "It makes you feel so funny.
"You get days where you feel totally normal and think you can play again, like I tried to do in Hamburg and then it came on again and I was like ‘oh no’.
"When you’re on the sidelines watching the golf, you realise how lucky you are to play it. I couldn’t wait to get back out.
"My first event back at KLM, I was loving it to be honest. Last week in Italy was nice. The weather’s been so good here, I love Munich, and I just feel like I’m enjoying it a lot more."
Starting on the tenth, Ferguson holed a 12-footer on his opener and made a two-putt gain on the par-five next before smart approaches to the 14th and 15th brought back-to-back birdies.
He spun his ball into the water to record a double-bogey on the 16th but bounced back with an eagle from 17 feet on the par-five 18th to turn in 32.
He then hit another excellent approach into the third, holed from the fringe at the fifth, got up and down from the sand at the par-five sixth and holed a 20-footer on the seventh to take control.
“That was great golf, I played so well," he said. "I was actually playing so well I started hitting it a bit further and on 16, I hit it too far into the middle of the bunker, spun it back and made double and I was thinking there’s no point getting that angry because I’m swinging it so well and the putter felt good.
"You get days where you feel like everything goes your way. I hit a couple of bad putts that caught the lip and went in, that’s just how it works out sometimes. It’s nice."
Langasque holed a long putt on the second, made a two-putt birdie on the sixth, holed another long putt on the eighth and birdied the par-five ninth after laying up.
Another lay-up brought another gain on the 11th and he holed from 22 feet on the 12th but dropped a shot with a three-putt on the 14th.
He hit straight back from 14 feet on the next and a smart up-and-down on the last put him three clear of the group in third.
Southgate made eight birdies and a bogey in a 65, Wiesberger and Smith carded a pair of 67s, Reed recovered from two bogeys with an eagle and a hat-trick of birdies in a 65 and overnight leader Micheluzzi overcame two bogeys and a double in a 70.
There were then ten players six shots off the lead.
