Pair tied for Madrid lead

Fraser on nine under alongside Schwartzel

Last updated: 10th October 2008

Marcus Fraser Madrid Masters r2 10/10/2008

Fraser: Playing quite well

Second-round leaderboard
GB & Irl unless stated
Marcus Fraser (Aus) -9
Charl Schwartzel (SA) -9
Steven Jeppsen (Swe) -7
Robert Rock -7

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Marcus Fraser has consolidated his position atop the leaderboard in the Madrid Masters after shooting a second-round five-under-par 66.

The Australian therefore reached nine under for the tournament to take a share of the lead alongside South Africa's Charl Schwartzel.

Fraser, who led overnight alongside Magnus Carlsson and Paul Broadhurst, made a stunning start with three birdies in the first four holes.

He then slipped back, however, with a three-hole run of bogeys from the sixth to briefly hand Schwartzel the outright lead.

But Fraser fought back and a flawless back nine left him tied for the lead with Schwartzel, who did not drop a shot in compiling a seven-under-par 64.

Having teed off on the 10th hole of the Club de Campo course, Schwartzel fired three birdies in succession on the back nine.

He then eagled the fourth before two more birdies at the seventh and eighth holes.

Despite also shooting a two-under-par 69 in the opening round, Schwartzel later revealed he was struggling with injury and illness and had considered withdrawing from the competition on Friday morning.

"I've got a shoulder problem and I'm feeling sick," he said.

"I phoned my Dad this morning and he told me to tee off and see how it goes. So I did that and then I got a couple of birdies and I started to feel better.

"After that the sun came out and I didn't feel my shoulder so much.

"I'm on antibiotics and I don't feel that strong. But that was a very solid round of golf and I'm in a very good position."

Valuable asset

Meanwhile, Fraser said his in-form short game had been a valuable asset.

"I like the course," he said. "It's a bit shorter than other weeks, not so much of a slog-fest, which suits me well because it tests your short game.

"I feel like I'm playing quite well overall."

The pair hold a two-stroke lead ahead of Sweden's Steven Jeppesen (67) and England's Robert Rock (65).

Scotland's Stephen Gallacher (65) lies one stroke further back alongside Spain's Santiago Luna (68), Italy's Paolo Terreni (65), England's Paul Waring (67) and Spain's Carlos Del Moral (67).

Terreni will therefore make the cut for only the second time in 20 European Tour events.

The 32-year-old has won little more than 2,000 euros this season, and is delighted to be at the right end of the leaderboard for once.

"When a player starts to miss lots of cuts it's always in their mind," Terreni said.

"Then when you do make one it feels like a victory.

"This is my last event on the European Tour this year and I told myself to enjoy it and just go for the pin. I would like to finish with a good performance.

"Today was perfect and I hope it continues."

Round of the day came from Australian Andrew Tampion, who shot seven birdies and an eagle in an eight-under-par 63 to move to four under.

But joint overnight leader Broadhurst had a 72 to slip back to three under overall.

Miguel Angel Jimenez carded a level-par 71 to lie two under, while fellow Spaniard Jose Maria Olazabal, who sparkled in his first competitive round for three months on Thursday, finished level par after a 72.

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