Rikard Karlberg carded a round of 69, three under par, on day two of the Vierumäki Finnish Challenge to take a one-shot lead into the weekend at Vierumäki Resort.
The Swede is going in search of his first win since 2015 when he defeated Martin Kaymer in a sudden-death play-off at the Italian Open to clinch his sole European Tour title.
He will begin the weekend with a narrow advantage over six players, including compatriot Oscar Lengden, overnight leader Darius van Driel, French duo Clément Berardo and Joël Stalter, England’s Mark Young and yesterday’s hole-in-one hero Mark Flindt Haastrup.
Karlberg made his second European Challenge Tour start of the season at the Euram Bank Open two weeks ago, where he fired a pair of six under par 66s over the weekend to finish in a tie for fourth place.
After a year hiatus from the game due to ill health and four missed cuts in five starts on the European Tour this season, the 32-year-old is delighted to be back at the top of the leaderboard.
‘’I was away from the game last season so it is just great to be back out there competing,’’ he said. ‘’It’s taken me a while to find my rhythm again on tour, but I’ve been really relaxed this week and just enjoying being on the course.
‘’It’s been a long time since I was in contention, so I’m just going to go out there and enjoy the moment. You often find that the most relaxed man is the guy who finishes at the top of the leaderboard at the end of the week, so that is what I’m aiming towards over the weekend.’’
Overnight leader van Driel registered an impressive 63, nine under par, on the first day of the tournament and spared little time extending that advantage, carding back-to-back birdies on his opening two holes.
However it would be a day of two halves for the Dutchman, who is bidding to win his second Challenge Tour title following his maiden triumph at the 2018 Euram Bank Open, as he signed for a one over par round of 73 to finish the day on eight under par, one behind Karlberg.
The leader will begin his third round at 12:05pm local time, alongside chasing pair Haastrup, who followed his hole-in-one on day one with a second consecutive 68, and 2016 Swedish Challenge champion Stalter.
