STOCKHOLM, July 22, 2011 (AFP) - Sweden's Alex Noren made the most of homeground knowledge to set a new Bro Hof Slott course record of six under par 66 and lead the Scandinavian Masters by three shots at the halfway stage on Friday.
The 29-year-old is 11 under par for the tournament with India’s Shiv Kapur in second spot after reaching eight under courtesy of a 66 which matched Noren’s course record within an hour of it being set.
Wales Open champion Noren hit five birdies in an outward 31 and then birdied the par three 11th to complete a bogey-free round.
"I played probably the best I’ve ever played. It’s just been great, everything has been going better," said Noren.
"It really helps playing this course alot, I know what lines there are and I know when to step back."
Kapur is yet to win on The European Tour despite this being his sixth season, but he started his round with a hat-trick of birdies from the 11th, holed from 20 feet on the 15th and, after three more gains and two bogeys, birdied his final hole of the day to put himself firmly in contention heading into the weekend.
American Ryder Cup player Bubba Watson eagled the ninth and birdied four in a row for a 67 and third place, six under for the tournament.
"I struggled on the front nine. I made a couple of dumb mistakes - three bogeys. Hit one in the water. I’m in a good position though, I’ve got to keep making birdies and hopefully not make any mistakes."
Leading and selected second round scores in the Scandinavian Masters at the BroHoff Slott Golf Club on Friday (GBR/IRL unless stated, par 72; a denotes amateur):
133 - Alexander Noren (SWE) 67-66
136 - Shiv Kapur (IND) 70-66
138 - Jaco Van Zyl (RSA) 67-71, Bubba Watson (USA) 71-67
139 - Anthony Wall 69-70, Robert Karlsson (SWE) 69-70, Scott Hend (AUS) 69-70, Jeong Jin (KOR) 74-65
140 - Niklas Lemke (SWE) 68-72, Fredrik Henge (SWE) 71-69
141 - Jeev Milkha Singh (IND) 70-71, John Parry 68-73, Noh Seung-yul (KOR) 73-68, Jeppe Huldahl (DEN) 73-68, Richard Finch 69-72, Tano Goya (ARG) 71-70, Lorenzo Gagli (ITA) 68-73, Pablo Martin (ESP) 69-72, Fredrik Andersson Hed (SWE) 73-68
142 - Damien McGrane 72-70, Christian Nilsson (SWE) 73-69, Oliver Wilson 74-68, Scott Strange (AUS) 71-71, Alfredo Garcia-Heredia (ESP) 68-74, Oliver Fisher 72-70, Robert Karlsson (SWE-a) 67-75, Sam Walker 74-68, Ross McGowan 72-70
143 - Lee Slattery 70-73, Florian Fritsch (GER) 74-69, Felipe Aguilar (CHI) 69-74, Daniel Vancsik (ARG) 70-73, Thomas Norret (DEN) 72-71, Romain Wattel (FRA) 72-71, Jamie Donaldson 73-70, Alejandro Canizares (ESP) 72-71, Anders Sjostrand (SWE) 70-73, Rafael Cabrera Bello (ESP) 74-69, Alexandre Kaleka (FRA) 73-70, Bradley Dredge 74-69
Selected
144 - Dustin Johnson (USA) 73-71
145 - James Kingston (RSA) 75-70, Scott Pinckney (USA) 73-72, Marcus Fraser (AUS) 71-74
Missed cut
146 - Michael Campbell (NZL) 75-71, Daniel Gaunt (AUS) 75-71
147 - Mark Brown (NZL) 72-75
148 - Rick Kulacz (AUS) 79-69
149 - Hennie Otto (RSA) 74-75, Keith Horne (RSA) 75-74
150 - Matthew Zions (AUS) 77-73
152 - Andrew Dodt (AUS) 78-74, Shiv Shankar Prasad Chowrasia (IND) 80-72, Jesper Parnevik (SWE) 75-77
153 - Todd Hamilton (USA) 77-76
155 - Wade Ormsby (AUS) 75-80
164 - Anthony Kang (USA) 83-81
167 - Shaun Norris (RSA) 84-83