Matt Fitzpatrick is still on track to nab one of the remaining automatic Ryder Cup spots as he leads by a solitary stroke at the midway point at the Omega European Masters in the Swiss Alps.
The 2022 US Open champion followed up his 63 on Thursday with a 65, following a birdie blitz on the back nine.
For much of the afternoon, we were threatened with the novel spectacle of two siblings teeing it up in the final pairing of DP World Tour event, with Alex Fitzpatrick climbing to 10-under after a second successive 65.
Sweden's Alexander Bjork scuppered the plans with a second round 64 to climb to 11-under, taking second pot on his own.
From the Ryder Cup perspective, the elder Fitzpatrick will take the third and final spot on the World Points list ahead of Tommy Fleetwood should he finish tied-7th or better in Switzerland.
Fleetwood currently occupies third spot in the World list but isn't playing this weekend.
The race for the third and final spot in the European points list, meanwhile, was a six-way battle, with Scotland's Rob MacIntyre in pole position at the beginning of the week.
However, one of his pursuers Adrian Meronk is well in the mix to unseat him, even after a messy finish to his second round.
Nine under par with three holes to play 👀@AdrianMeronk joins Matt Fitzpatrick at the top of the leaderboard. #OEM2023 pic.twitter.com/vPEhEZHS3d
— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) September 1, 2023
The Pole - winner of the 2021 Irish Open - rattled a whopping nine birdies a blemish free 16 holes to climb to 12-under a tie for the lead. However, his final two holes were stuffed with blemishes, a bogey on 17 being followed by a lost drive on the 18th, which resulted in a double bogey.
Meronk ends Friday on nine-under in a tie for fifth. He needs to finish tied-2nd or better to take the last spot.
The aforementioned six-way battle has since formally narrowed to four with Viktor Perez and Rasmus Hojgaard both missing the cut this afternoon. Yannick Paul, needing to finish tied-3rd to displace MacIntyre is struggling to make headway on five-under par.
MacIntyre himself just scraped inside the cut line on three-under par and will need Meronk to falter over the weekend to be assured of the last European list spot.
Spain's Adrian Otaegui, another who could theoretically take the last spot, is also struggling along on three-under.
For the 2023 Ryder Cup, six players will qualify automatically, three via the European list and three via the World list. Rory McIlroy and Jon Rahm are already guaranteed qualification on the European standings, while Viktor Hovland and Tyrrell Hatton are qualified on World points. See European qualification criteria here.
Luke Donald is due to name his six wildcard picks on Monday, with 2019 Open Champion Shane Lowry, not playing this weekend, among those waiting on the call.
The competing Irish trio will be around for the weekend, though all are well back in the pack.
Padraig Harrington finished strongly on Day 2, with two birdies in his closing four holes to post a two-under par 68. Tom McKibbin posted a 67 on Friday, with four birdies in his first 12 holes but a wayward drive cost him a 6 on the par-5 14th hole.
Kinsale's John Murphy will also be around for the weekend, after posting his second successive 68 to sit on four-under, one stroke above the projected cut line.
Murphy suffered a wobble with two early bogeys pushing him back to even par. But he steadied with a birdie on the eighth before rattling in three more down the final stretch to assure his place for Saturday and Sunday.
