Omega European Masters: Day two digest

Matt Fitzpatrick continued his mountain love affair, brother Alex wasn't far behind, there was drama in the Ryder Cup race and Guido Migliozzi went seriously low on day two at Crans-sur-Sierre Golf Club.

Here is everything you need to know from Friday at the Omega European Masters.

Fitzpatrick edges ahead

Fitzpatrick stayed on track to make it a hat-trick of wins at Crans-sur-Sierre Golf Club as he followed his opening 63 with a 65 to take a one-shot lead into the weekend. The Englishman was champion here in 2017 and 2018 and continued his love affair on his 29th birthday as he moved to 12 under ahead of Swede Alexander Björk, who carded a 64. Fitzpatrick's younger brother Alex was then at ten under after a 65, a score matched by Frenchman Romain Langasque who was also two shots off the lead. "First nine I played fantastic," said Matt Fitzpatrick. "Just carried on where I left off yesterday. Front nine I didn’t give myself too many chances, a little bit scrappy. A couple of pins that didn’t feel like they suited me. Disappointed to only shoot level par on the front given the scoring opportunities but in a good position going into the weekend."

Oh brother

Matt and Alex's 65s have set up the mouth-watering prospect that the siblings could play in the same group on Sunday. They have played together as rivals before having been drawn as partners but this would be the first time they would be together as a result of their places on the leaderboard, something Matt admits he would find "weird". "It's weird competing for a tournament because we never did it in juniors," he said. "I was asking Nicolai (Højgaard) yesterday, did him and (twin brother) Rasmus do it and he said they did in juniors but they're the same age, we're four years apart so we've never really experienced it before." Alex, meanwhile, insisted he would be all business in a brotherly battle. "He's my brother but he's also a competitor so I'm still trying to beat him," he said. "I shot five under and didn't gain any ground today so that was a little frustrating. It would be good. I've played a little bit of golf with him now in competitive events and it would be fun to go against him."

Ryder Cup race

And then there were five. While Matt Fitzpatrick is the only man battling on the World Points List - needing a tie for seventh with one other or better - the European Points List placings have already started to ebb and flow. Robert MacIntyre was the man in possession of the all-important third spot at the start of the day but while he fought around the cutline, Adrian Meronk made eight birdies to overtake him in the race after 14 holes, and the Pole was joint leader of the event when he birdied the next. However, a bogey on the 17th and a double on the last saw Meronk fall back to fifth on the Points List, behind MacIntyre and Yannik Paul - who will be heading to Rome with a win and potentially a top three if other things go his way. The German is currently five under, two shots clear of Adrian Otaegui, who needs an unlikely win to have any chance of making Luke Donald's team.

A Migliozzi masterclass

Guido Migliozzi had us all on 59 Watch as he carded the lowest round of his DP World Tour career with a brilliant 61. The Italian turned in 29 with a birdie on the 11th and five in a row from the 14th before adding further gains on the second, fifth and seventh. That left him with an 18-yard chip from the rough for an eagle and the magic number on the ninth and, while he had to settle for a par, it was still a remarkable day's work. "It’s been a great day of golf," he said. "I played great, solid from tee to green. I started by holing a few putts, gave me some confidence. Then I just kept going. I’m a little upset, I was close for a 59 and on the final four holes I left two putts short. But I’m very happy with the day, I played great."

More near misses

On day one we saw a couple of near-aces and we had another two on Friday. Surely we'll have a hole-in-one before the week is out?