Richard anything but Bland as he hits another 66 in Turin

Richard Bland birdied the last three holes of his second round to take the halfway lead at the Italian Open in Turin.

The Englishman carded a second successive 66, with birdies at the first, the 11th and four of the last six holes to eventually move ahead of a developing logjam at the top.

France’s Gregory Bourdy shot 64 to leap to 11 under alongside Scot Marc Warren and Spaniard Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano, who both went round in 65, and Garth Mulroy of South Africa (67). Bourdy said yesterday: “This morning it was perfect conditions to play on this course. It was a lovely round and I enjoyed it a lot.”

Richard McEvoy was at ten under after following his opening 66 with a four-under-par 68. First-round leader Joel Sjoholm fell into a seven-way tie for seventh on nine under after failing to go with the trend 
of improved scoring yesterday. He could only follow 
yesterday’s eight-under-par 64 with a 71.