Aiming low gives Davies high finish

WELSHMAN Rhys Davies fired the lowest round of his European Tour career to take the halfway lead at the Hassan Trophy in Morocco.

Stephen Gallacher, however, slipped six shots off the pace during the second round. The Scot, who was sharing second at the start of the day, posted a one-under 72 over the Red course for a seven-under 138 and dropped into a tie for 16th.

Davies, 24, added an eight-under-par 64 to his opening 68. At 13 under, Davies goes into the weekend two in front of former Ryder Cup pair Thomas Levet and Ignacio Garrido and South African Louis Oosthuizen.

First-round leader Nick Dougherty, who like Davies switched from the Red course at Royal Dar Es Salam to the shorter and easier Blue, scored three shots worse and dropped to joint fifth place on ten under. While McIlroy was an instant hit in the paid ranks – he secured a Tour card in a mere three starts – Davies failed on his first two trips to the qualifying school.

"This time last year I didn't really have any status in Europe but I managed to get a win on the Challenge Tour and everything sort of spiralled from there," the Bridgend player said. "It's been really good the last 12 months. I am feeling very confident. You play golf to play well and to get to the top of the leaderboard. I think if you don't enjoy it at the top you wouldn't really want to do it."

As for his eight-birdie round, Davies added: "It went great. I rolled some really good putts in and overall it was a good day's work."

Oosthuizen matched his 64, while Frenchman Levet returned a 65 and Spaniard Garrido a 67.

Dougherty had a hat-trick of birdies from the 15th and was four under for the round with seven to go, but played them in one over.

Paul McGinley missed the cut in his first tournament since a sixth knee operation last November.

David Drysdale had a two-under 70 for a 141 while Peter Whiteford was the only other Scot to qualify for the weekend's action on a 142 after a 70.

Richie Ramsay missed the cut on a 144 with Alastair Forysth and Marc Warren departing on 145s. Gary Orr also made an early exit with a 147.

• Scotland's Vikki Laing stepped up her bid for a first victory on the Ladies' European Tour with a second-day 71 at the Lalla Meryem Cup In Morocco. With a round to play, she was in joint second place on five under par 137 and just a shot behind the leader, Sweden's Carin Koch.

Ayrshire's Pamela Feggans fired a 69 and was in a tie for fifth place and just a stroke behind Laing on four under par, while 17-year-old Carly Booth, the youngest-ever Scot to play professionally, marked her debut by easily making the cut after a second successive 73.

The Comrie youngest birdied the final hole, but the real highlight for the powerful teenager was an eagle three at the long seventh. On two over par, Booth was on the same mark as fellow-Scots Krystle Caithness and Lynn Kenny, who both shot 71. But it wasn't such a good professional debut for Kylie Walker. The 23-year-old Vagliano Trophy player finished on 18 over par and failed to qualify for the final 18 holes. Fellow-Scot Clare Queen also dropped out after two rounds of 78.

Laing won on the US Futures Tour three years ago and had a decent first season in Europe, finishing 53rd on the Order of Merit as a 2009 rookie.

Koch, 39, repeated her opening 69 to open the one shot gap on Laing, England's Melissa Reid (71) and Germany's Anja Monke (68).