LONDON, June 1, 2012 (AFP) - The 31-year-old shot a five-under par 66 to lead after two rounds and, although he's dropped 130 places on the world rankings since playing in the Ryder Cup, he hasn't given up hope of representing Europe against the United States at the Medinah Club, near Chicago, in September.
"Hopefully this will be the start of a big summer for me," said Fisher.
"I guess it's the dreaded curse of the comedown from the Ryder Cup. You have such high expectations and it's been disappointing.
"Once you've played one you don't want to miss one. It's still a goal of mine, but it's a big outside goal at the moment because I've got to play damn well to get on that team.
"I made an equipment change this year - I just felt the time was right - and it's probably taken me longer to adjust than I would have liked.
"But if I can play how I've played the first two days, especially today, I feel like I'm really tough to beat.
"It's always nice to come back to a good hunting ground. The Ryder Cup was a great experience -- I played really well and really enjoyed it."
First round leader Lee Slattery, who is US Open-bound after qualifying on Monday, added a 71 to his opening 67.
"The swing certainly didn't feel as good," Fisher's compatriot said. "It was one of those battling days. I just managed to compose my thoughts and that's why we do psychology.
"I had a break from it and it was probably a mistake. I felt I knew everything -- as golfers do. We're quite stubborn and selfish."
Meanwhile Scotland's Paul Lawrie, second in the cup standings after his runners-up finish in the BMW PGA Championship last Sunday, qualified for the weekend on one over as did Europe's 2010 Ryder Cup captain Colin Montgomerie on four over.
Collated second round scores in the European Tour Wales Open at Celtic Manor (GBR and IRL unless stated, par 71):
136 - Ross Fisher 70-66
138 - Lee Slattery 67-71
139 - Chris Wood 72-67, Fabrizio Zanotti (PAR) 70-69, Thongchai Jaidee (THA) 71-68
140 - Tim Sluiter (NED) 68-72
141 - Thorbjorn Olesen (DEN) 73-68, Richard McEvoy 71-70, Jaco Van Zyl (RSA) 72-69, Mark Foster 72-69, Raphael Jacquelin (FRA) 76-65
142 - Emiliano Grillo (ARG) 73-69, Damien McGrane 71-71, David Howell 73-69, Robert Coles 73-69, Steven O'Hara 70-72, George Coetzee (RSA) 71-71, Simon Thornton 69-73, Richard Sterne (RSA) 73-69
143 - Carlos Del Moral (ESP) 75-68, Francesco Molinari (ITA) 74-69, Jean-Baptiste Gonnet (FRA) 74-69, Joost Luiten (NED) 74-69, Marcel Siem (GER) 68-75, Pablo Larrazabal (ESP) 69-74, Joel Sjoholm (SWE) 69-74, David Drysdale 72-71, Thomas Bjorn (DEN) 71-72, Tommy Fleetwood 75-68, Paul Lawrie 74-69, Gregory Bourdy (FRA) 74-69, Gonzalo Fdez-Castano (ESP) 69-74
144 - Brett Rumford (AUS) 74-70, Magnus A Carlsson (SWE) 77-67, Joakim Lagergren (Swe) 72-72, Matteo Manassero (ITA) 76-68, David Horsey 71-73, David Lynn 73-71
145 - Jamie Moul 78-67, Peter Lawrie 72-73, Simon Khan 75-70, Ricardo Gonzalez (ARG) 73-72, Daniel Denison 78-67, Tom Lewis 74-71, Romain Wattel (FRA) 73-72, Knut Borsheim (NOR) 74-71, Rich Beem (USA) 77-68, Keith Horne (RSA) 79-66, Reinier Saxton (NED) 74-71, Paul McGinley 72-73, Benjamin Hebert (FRA) 73-72
146 - George Murray 75-71, Oliver Wilson 73-73, Colin Montgomerie 74-72, Steen Tinning (DEN) 73-73, Maarten Lafeber (NED) 74-72, Jamie Elson 71-75, Scott Hend (AUS) 80-66, Andrew Marshall 72-74, Fredrik Andersson Hed (SWE) 71-75
147 - Andrew Johnston 75-72, Matthew Zions (AUS) 76-71, Matthew Baldwin 77-70, Oscar Floren (SWE) 78-69, James Morrison 77-70, Oliver Fisher 76-71, Graeme Storm 80-67, Stephen Gallacher 77-70, Niclas Fasth (SWE) 74-73, Federico Colombo (ITA) 79-68, Andrea Pavan (ITA) 76-71, Miguel Angel Jimenez (ESP) 76-71, Lorenzo Gagli (ITA) 77-70, Gregory Havret (FRA) 75-72, Marcus Fraser (AUS) 70-77
148 - Soren Kjeldsen (DEN) 74-74, Michael Campbell (NZL) 73-75, Peter Hedblom (SWE) 78-70, Jose Manuel Lara (ESP) 73-75, Johan Edfors (SWE) 77-71, Marc Warren 75-73, David Dixon 74-74, Alejandro Canizares (ESP) 76-72, Bernd Wiesberger (AUT) 75-73, Edoardo Molinari (ITA) 77-71, Ross McGowan 73-75
149 - Jeev Milkha Singh (IND) 76-73, Alex Haindl (RSA) 77-72, Richie Ramsay 71-78, Gary Orr 77-72, Mikko Ilonen (FIN) 75-74, Anders Hansen (DEN) 77-72, Gareth Maybin 73-76, Estanislao Goya (ARG) 82-67, Phillip Price 75-74, Julien Guerrier (FRA) 73-76, Andrew Dodt (AUS) 75-74, Danny Willett 78-71, Mark F Haastrup (DEN) 76-73, Ignacio Garrido (ESP) 75-74, Thomas Levet (FRA) 78-71
150 - Felipe Aguilar (CHI) 79-71, Christian Nilsson (SWE) 78-72, Steve Webster 77-73, John Parry 77-73, Peter Whiteford 76-74, Rhys Enoch 77-73, Ricardo Santos (POR) 79-71
151 - Richard Bland 77-74, Scott Strange (AUS) 81-70, Edouard Dubois (FRA) 76- 75, Julien Quesne (FRA) 75-76, Kenneth Ferrie 79-72, Scott Jamieson 76-75, Jose-Maria Olazabal (ESP) 76-75, Jbe Kruger (RSA) 81-70, Richard Green (AUS) 76-75, Michael Hoey 75-76
152 - Tjaart Van Der Walt (RSA) 80-72, Andy Sullivan 78-74, Rhys Davies 75-77, Darren Fichardt (RSA) 78-74, Shiv Shankar Prasad Chowrasia (IND) 78-74, Andreas Harto (DEN) 80-72
153 - Craig Lee 79-74, Mikael Lundberg (SWE) 82-71, James Kingston (RSA) 77-76, Joe Ferguson 82-71, Rhys Pugh 73-80, Michael Jonzon (SWE) 78-75, Sam Little 77-76, Bradley Dredge 72-81
154 - Christian Cevaer (FRA) 77-77, Sam Hutsby 83-71, Thomas Norret (DEN) 81-73, Jorge Campillo (ESP) 78-76, Markus Brier (AUT) 76-78
155 - Simon Lilly 82-73
156 - Hennie Otto (RSA) 83-73, Richard Wallis 77-79
158 - Jeppe Huldahl (DEN) 82-76
159 - Warren Abery (RSA) 81-78
160 - Jordi Garcia (ESP) 80-80
161 - Pablo Martin (ESP) 80-81
164 - Ted Innes Ker 86-78, Naoya Takemoto (JPN) 81-83
166 - Jason Shufflebotham 82-84
170 - Zhiqun Lam (SIN) 92-78