Saturday 16 August 2014 13:25, UK
Welshman Bradley Dredge made three birdies in his last four holes to move into a four-shot lead at the halfway stage of the Made in Denmark.
Dredge has won twice on the European Tour - he shot a round of 60 on his way to victory in Madeira in 2003 - and partnered Stephen Dodd to victory for Wales in 2005, but has been hampered by illness and injury recently.
The 41-year-old is playing on a medical exemption this season, but added a 68 to his opening 66 at Himmerland Resort & Spa thanks to four birdies in his last six holes.
At eight under par, Dredge leads by four shots from England's Simon Wakefield, with Danish pair Thomas Bjorn and Thorbjorn Olesen another shot back alongside Scotland's David Drysdale and former Amateur champion Garrick Porteous.
Bjorn was frustrated at following his opening 66 with a 73, the 43-year-old feeling players did not have enough notice of play resuming after a one-hour delay caused by the threat of lightning.
"It was down to fatigue a little bit, playing seven out of eight weeks," said Bjorn, who is looking to make certain of his Ryder Cup place on home soil. "The brain wasn't quite with it today. You have to just take it for what it is. I'm still in the golf tournament and I have to work from here.
"The delay shouldn't affect you, (but) I thought we were a bit quick to come back on though. You are sitting in the players' lounge and you get half an hour to restart and you are on the eighth tee, which is in a different county in this resort.
"I thought it was a bit quick so we got stressed about that. I had a bad drive on nine, but it was mostly down to putting today, which you can't blame that on the delay. You need to hole putts to be in contention and I couldn't do that today. If I can get it working and stay patient then it is still a good opportunity."
Wakefield is ranked 611th in the world and has yet to win a European Tour title in 333 attempts, but the 40-year-old carded a second round of 67 as playing partner and world number 1,160 Garrick Porteous returned a 68.
"I was on holiday last week and on Sunday I tinkered with the driver, which was silly as it is probably the strongest club in my bag," said Wakefield, who lost his card at the end of last season, but regained it via the qualifying school.
"I changed the settings on it and on the 15th tee on Thursday I realised the settings were wrong, so when I got in I changed it and obviously drove it a lot better today.
"I feel like I've played well this season. I missed (the cut) in Munich by one, French (Open) by one and the others by three. So I feel like my game is there. The last two weeks off were what I needed to recharge the batteries. I certainly needed that."
Massive crowds followed Olesen's group in the morning before switching their attention to Bjorn and the home players appreciated the excellent support.
"It's like playing a major championship out here, I've never seen anything like it," Olesen said. "It's just incredible and gave me a big boost. I just tried to keep on going and it was a great feeling to be out there in front of those crowds.
"Before the tournament I definitely felt a bit more pressure, but I try to deal with it in the best way and play my best golf. You feel pressure, but you also get that extra boost and confidence."
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