Brun stars on the Costa del Sol

Julien Brun produced the best round of his professional career on a day of high drama at the Andalucía Costa del Sol Match Play 9.

The Frenchman carded two eagles and five birdies en route to a stunning bogey-free round of 62, which meant the 25 year old rose 40 places up the leaderboard on day two at La Cala Resort.

Brun, who became the sixth amateur to win on the European Challenge Tour when he triumphed in his homeland in 2012, sat in tied second place after 36 holes, trailing England’s Charlie Ford by two shots.

But due to his phenomenal second round score, the former World Amateur Number Three overtook Germany’s Julian Kunzenbacher to become the second seed, as the top 32 players compete in a series of nine-hole match play contests over the weekend.

Despite his sublime score, Brun is not getting carried away and is well aware it will be back to square one tomorrow when the match play stage of the innovative Spanish event begins.

“Everything worked well for me today,” said Brun, who represented Europe in the Junior Ryder Cup in 2010 and in the Palmer Cup in 2012 and 2013.

“I started off really well. I came out knowing I was on the bubble, but I made eagle on the first hole and then a good par on the second hole when it was really windy – then I birdied the next.

“I was three under through three, the same as I was yesterday, but I learnt from my mistakes and kept on pushing.

“I played well all through today and it was great to really get going after my one under par round yesterday.

“It was definitely my lowest career score – I have maybe gone that low when just playing with my family. I’ve never done it in a tournament before, though, so it was really special.

“It is nice to be playing well and to have made some big putts, but everything starts over tomorrow. You just need to forget about it and start again.”

Joining Brun in the top 32 was Joel Girrbach, who was one of five players who came through a play-off after 11 players were tied on three under par – the cut line in Andalucía this week.

Ireland’s Gavin Moynihan along with England’s Billy Hemstock and Sam Hutsby progressed after they all birdied the first extra hole, but it was Switzerland’s Girrbach and Denmark’s Rasmus Hjelm who prevailed at the second play-off hole, which they both birdied.

“I feel really good now,” said Girrbach. “But it was very tense at the end. Overall it was a good day for me – I played really well but my scoring was terrible.

“I felt like I lost a lot of shots on the golf course today, so I’m really happy that I made it through the play-off.

“It was a tough fight. It was already really like match play though so it is good experience ahead of tomorrow.”