PRAGUE, August 22, 2014 (AFP) - The 38-year-old world number 29, who needs to finish the weekend in the top seven to book a maiden Ryder Cup appearance at Gleneagles next month, overcame a nervy conclusion to his second round.
He finished on a 69 to stand at nine under for the tournament after bogeying two of his last three holes having been well set earlier in the day with four birdies in six holes.
"I played nicely again and made a lot of birdies out there today, but a few bogeys so if I can go out there tomorrow and play as well as I've played over the last couple of days I'll be in a strong position going into the final round," said Donaldson.
"Overall it was a solid day but like I said it could have been very good out there.
"I won't dwell on the poor shots; I played two pitches at seven and eight and misjudged them both so one's come out hot and one's come out dead. That slowed the run down, up until that point I was really motoring."
France's Gregory Bourdy, who went round in 67, is second overall on 136 for the two rounds.
English trio Tommy Fleetwood, Garrick Porteous and Lee Slattery, American John Hahn and Scotland's Stephen Gallacher are all tied for third on seven under.
Leading second round scores in the Czech Masters at the Albatross Golf Resort, Prague, on Friday (GBR/IRL unless stated, par 72):
135 - Jamie Donaldson 66 69
136 - Gregory Bourdy (FRA) 69 67
137 - Stephen Gallacher 70 67, Tommy Fleetwood 72 65, John Hahn (USA) 68 69, Garrick Porteous 70 67, Lee Slattery 68 69
138 - Merrick Bremner (RSA) 70 68, Soren Kjeldsen (DEN) 68 70, Oscar Stark (SWE) 71 67, Peter Hedblom (SWE) 70 68, James Morrison 70 68, Bradley Dredge 68 70
139 - Joachim B Hansen (DEN) 70 69, Duncan Stewart 70 69, Paul Waring 68 71,
Joakim Lagergren (SWE) 71 68, Kenneth Ferrie 68 71
140 - Tain Lee (USA) 72 68, Craig Lee 69 71, Roope Kakko (FIN) 70 70, Javier Colomo (ESP) 69 71, Peter Whiteford 70 70, Sam Walker 69 71, Paul Lawrie 70 70, David Lipsky (USA) 69 71, Adrian Otaegui (Spa) 70 70, Fredrik Andersson Hed (SWE) 72 68
141 - Kim Sihwan (KOR) 74 67, Richard Bland 71 70, Hennie Otto (RSA) 70 71, Shiv Kapur (IND) 71 70, Joost Luiten (NED) 70 71, Jason Knutzon (USA) 70 71, Kevin Phelan (USA) 72 69, Dodge Kemmer (USA) 71 70, Phillip Archer 69 72
Selected:
142 - Keith Horne (RSA) 68 74
143 - Shiv Shankar Prasad Chowrasia (IND) 68 75, Gaganjeet Bhullar (IND) 72 71
144 - James Kingston (RSA) 76 68, Brandon Stone (RSA) 71 73, Haydn Porteous (RSA) 74 70