Liam Nolan has pushed his way into the top 10, as Pedro Figueiredo and Palmer Jackson share a one-stroke lead heading into the weekend of The Dutch Futures.
The Galway man started the day five in arrears of first-round leader Dermot McElroy but carded a four-under 67 to climb into a share of ninth place at the halfway mark, two ahead of Max Kennedy who sits tied for 20th after a two-under 69.
Jack Madden and Jonathan Caldwell are one shot further adrift on -1, while McElroy struggled on day two but managed to squeeze into the weekend at level-par.
Daniel Mulligan, John Murphy, Alex Maguire, Robert Moran and Paul McBride all found themselves the wrong side of the cutline at the halfway mark.
At the head of affairs, Portuguese Figueiredo signed for a five under par second round of 66 to move to seven under par for the week, while American Jackson fired 65 late on Friday to join the 34-year-old at the top of the leaderboard.
Figueiredo mixed five birdies with two bogeys on his opening nine before adding two further gains coming in. The Portuguese, who sits 41st on the Road to Mallorca Rankings, is hoping for a big weekend to boost his chances of promotion to the DP World Tour.
“I’ve been playing really well for a while, but the scores are only showing up lately so definitely trying to build on last week’s performance in Finland,” he said.
“I am looking forward to the weekend and I hope I can play well. I need some points to move up the Rankings and hopefully secure a DP World Tour card for next year.
“It’s not easy out there and it’s a tough golf course. I actually got off to a tough start and holed a ten foot putt on the second to avoid going two over after two. After that I started holing some good putts and kind of got in the zone.”
Jackson, starting on the tenth, picked up four birdies in six holes on the front to turn in 32 strokes. Two further gains on the second and fifth saw the American, who is eyeing a second win of the season, move into a tie at the top.
“I hit a lot of good shots,” he said. “It’s a challenging golf course but if you have good ball control it gives you an advantage.”
“You have to hit good shots around here; you can’t fake it. There’s too much trouble lurking that can bite you. Focussing, staying present and hitting good shots is key.”
Jackson sealed his maiden HotelPlanner Tour victory at the Raiffeisenbank Golf Challenge back in June, and the 24-year-old is relishing the chance to contend once more.
“This round felt similar to the second round I had at Kaskada,” he added. “It’s a different week but I think they’re similar golf courses where you have to execute.
“I feel confident that my good is good and that’s what I am focussing on. If someone beats me, that’s fine, I am just trying to go out there and do my best.”
South African Daniel van Tonder and Scot Euan Walker share third place on six under par, one shot ahead of France’s Andoni Etchenique, German Anton Albers, Englishman Callan Barrow and Frenchman Julien Sale. Irishman Liam Nolan and England’s Will Enefer both sit one shot further back on four under par.
The third round of The Dutch Futures gets under way at 8:32am local time with Figueiredo and Jackson teeing off alongside Van Tonder at 1:00pm.
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