Two of The European Tour’s brightest prospects are set to form part of the weekend battle for the Omega Dubai Desert Classic.
Danish 23 year old Thorbjørn Olesen and English 22 year old Tommy Fleetwood both sit 11 under par at Emirates Golf Club, one behind South African Richard Sterne.
Neither player has dropped a shot so far, and Olesen said after his second round 66: “I have big pressure on myself, also. I believe in myself and I want to achieve my own goals, and that's the biggest pressure.
“I've played really nice, and it's been three great tournaments for me. Hopefully I can finish it off.
“I'm 23, so definitely still learning and I have a lot to learn. It's really good progress I'm making now so hopefully I can keep going that way.
“I’ve more confidence and more belief in myself that I can do it. So hopefully I can keep rolling the putts over the weekend.”
While Olesen has already claimed his first European Tour title in Sicily, Fleetwood had to go to the final week of the season last year to retain his card.
However, the former Challenge Tour winner believes he is stronger for the experience.
“I learnt how to struggle,” he said of his rookie season. “I had not really lost form properly in my whole life, and then you have a few months and you can't break par no matter what you seem to do.
“I would say just knowing how hard you have to work and you appreciate good play all that much more. It opened my eyes a little bit.
“I've played really good. Like I say, mistakes is one of the things I've been bad at doing recently but so far this week I've just been hitting it really well, so feeling really good.
“I felt comfortable all week so far and it's just really nice to play well and put yourself in those positions; it's a good leaderboard up there and hopefully I can just continue into the weekend.
“On The Challenge Tour I felt fine and I knew a lot of guys from the amateur days and all of that and you come out on Tour and all of the guys you've been watching on TV for years on end, and it does take a bit of getting used to. But they are all nice guys, so there's nothing to be scared of, it just takes a bit of getting used to, and now I'm getting there.
“If it's all going hunky dory, then you don't learn that much from it. So I've gained a lot in the last year I would say, and hopefully I can bring that out this weekend and use my experience to my advantage.”
