Richard Bland grabs the lead after day two of the BMW Italian Open presented by CartaSi
Richard Bland stunned his opponents during the second round of the BMW Italian Open presented by CartaSi, as he fired a six-under par 66 to grab the lead.
Bland, who has yet to register the first European Tour victory of his career, recorded eight birdies against two bogeys on day one for a 66.
On day two, he avoided conceding a single bogey and posted another 66, surging past the first-round leader Joel Sjöholm.
The Englishman looked completely fired up, as he opened his round with a birdie on the very first hole that he played.
Thereafter, he parred each of the next nine holes prior to picking up some pace. He birdied five of the last eight holes of the day and opened up a one-stroke lead over Marc Warren, Garth Mulroy, Grégory Bourdy and Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano.
He now has a great chance of ending a career title drought on the European Tour. Apart from that, he also needs a strong finish, in order to retain his card for the 2013 European Tour season.
He currently ranks 126th in The Race to Dubai. Therefore, he will have to make at least a jump of 11 places on the list, as the top-115 will be allowed to retain their cards for the next year.
Last year, he had to return to the European Tour Q-School, after he did not make it to the top-115 in the list.
"I've had a tough couple of years, but that's behind me now and I'm just trying to move forward and improve every day,” Bland.
“When it wasn't going my way on the front nine, I didn't panic. I knew there were chances out there and it was just a question of waiting. I don't go for the panic button which I might've done five or six years ago”.
He added, "There's still 36 holes to go - all it is right now is a great position. There are great players behind me, it's low scoring, so two 70s isn't going to get it done”.
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