Englishman James Morrison holds a one-shot lead at the halfway stage of the Alstom Open de France.
The 26-year-old,who was hospitalised on Tuesday when his Crohn’s disease flared up, shot a five-under-par 66 for the second day running at Le Golf National to edge ahead of overnight leader Richard Green.
Morrison was steady over his front nine, making the turn in 35 after nine successive pars, but came to life on his back nine, starting at the second hole. The Chertsey-born putter put together back-to-back birdies at the par-three second and par-five third, and he then surged to the top of the leaderboard on 10-under thanks to a run of three straight birdies between the sixth and eighth.
Green, who came into the second day tied for the lead with Graeme Storm, teed off at the 10th and made an immediate impression with a birdie at the par-four hole. The Australian picked up another shot at the 15th before enjoying a run of three successive birdies between the par-three second and par-four fourth. However, a double-bogey at the par-four seventh ultimately cost him the lead as his three-under-par 68 could only improve him to nine-under.
Mark Foster is alone in third place on six-under following another round of 68, while Richie Ramsay, Thorbjorn Olesen and Matthew Nixon are a shot further back on five-under.
Storm, meanwhile, plummeted down the leaderboard two-under after shooting three bogeys and a double-bogey in his four-over-par 75, and he is joined on that total by world number four Martin Kaymer. The German had been the pre-tournament favourite but started with a par-round on Thursday, and his second-round 69 means he is still off the pace.
But Kaymer will make the cut, unlike several of the other high-profile players taking part in France. Defending champion Miguel Angel Jimenez has missed the cut following a dismal eight-over-par second round, while Bubba Watson, Francesco Molinari and Peter Hanson are also making an early exit from Le Golf National – the venue for the 2018 Ryder Cup.
