Thor thunders before storms

Thorbjorn Olesen: made the most of calm conditions to move three clear

Thorbjorn Olesen leads the way by three shots after a weather-shortened second day at the Lyoness Open in Austria.

Fresh off his ninth-place finish at the Open last week, the 22-year-old Dane followed up his opening 64 with a round of 68, moving him to 12 under par for the tournament.

Thomas Levet is his nearest rival after signing for a 70, though proceedings were cut short on Thursday due to heavy rain and the threat of lightning.

Overnight leader Pablo Larrazabal was on two over par for his round after nine holes when play was suspended at Diamond Country Club, with most players still only on the front nine.

First task

Starting out one behind Spaniard Larrazabal, Olesen's first task of the day was to complete the four remaining holes of his first round.

In calmer conditions he picked up a birdie at the 17th to go to eight under and then, after a quick turnaround, came out to fire a four-under-score that included birdie putts from 12 and 25 feet at the fourth and fifth respectively.

There was quite a strong wind out there at times," he told www.europeantour.com.

"I struggled a bit round the turn and hit a few bad drives, but I managed to hit some good shots coming home, so I'm happy to get in on 12 under par. It's been a long day, but a very good one."

Levet sits on nine under, one clear of England's Richard Bland (67), with Dutchman Wil Besseling (72), home favourite Bernd Wiesberger (66) and Oscar Floren of Sweden, who managed a 69, then grouped on seven under.

Defending champion Kenneth Ferrie completed his second round but could only manage a one-over 73, leaving the Englishman 11 shots off the pace at one under par.

Event organisers announced play would resume at 7.30am on Friday morning.

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