Matthew Fitzpatrick surged to the top of the leaderboard following a superb second round 65 at the halfway mark of the Italian Open.
The World No 31 was set a daunting clubhouse target by Joachim B. Hansen after he finished Friday morning at nine under par, but Fitzpatrick was the only player to surpass the Dane as he led by one shot thanks to seven birdies and a bogey at Olgiata Golf Club.
Fitzpatrick has victories in each of his four seasons since earning his European Tour card at the 2014 Qualifying School but has not been in the winner’s circle since claiming the Omega European Masters last year.
The Sheffield native will become the youngest Englishman to secure six European Tour titles if he prevails in Rome, eclipsing Lee Westwood’s 21-year-old record.
Two former Major champions were in a tie for third at seven under, with Justin Rose and Graeme McDowell leading the pack alongside India’s Shubhankar Sharma, Slovakian Rory Sabbatini and Englishman Andrew Johnston.
‘Just a really, really solid day,’ Fitzpatrick said. ‘I figured out something with my irons after the second hole. I just felt much more comfortable with my irons once I was out there. That certainly showed. I only missed one green after that.
‘When you’re in these kind of positions, it’s always exciting. That’s why you play the game, and look forward to the weekend.’
There was a top heavy leaderboard midway through Friday morning when Pulkkanen was joined by Sabbatini, Mikko Korhonen, Hansen and Rose at seven under.
Rose got to the mark after a birdie-birdie finish on his front nine, courtesy of some superb approaches and when he completed his hat-trick of gains at the first, he was sole leader.
Hansen went bogey-birdie from the 11th to remain at seven under but Rose fell back following a penalty drop after a wayward tee shot at the third.
The duo jumped ahead to eight under following birdies at the fourth and 14th respectively and when the Dane rattled home another gain from 15 feet at the 15th, he was the leader at nine under.
Rose hit back immediately as he dialled in to concessional range once again at the fifth to join Hansen before the Englishman found himself alone at the top when the 29-year-old bogeyed the 16th.
Hansen replied by narrowly missing a monster eagle putt from over 70 feet and rejoined Rose as joint leader before parring the last for a composed 66 to follow his first round 67.
Rose’s second round derailed from the seventh hole when he somehow salvaged par, only to follow it up with a double bogey at the next after finding water off the tee before grinding to a fine par save at the ninth – but there was no such problems for Fitzpatrick.
The five-time European Tour winner began his round with a birdie-bogey-birdie start before picking up another shot at the sixth from ten feet. A stunning approach, which spun back to three feet, at the ninth meant Fitzpatrick came in for 32 and he continued his assault on the leader on the back nine.
The 25-year-old dialled his tee shot to close range for his fifth gain of the day at the 14th before spinning his second shot back to four feet at the next and when he drained the birdie putt, he was tied for the lead.
Fitzpatrick pushed a difficult left-to-right putt past the hole which would have taken the outright lead at the 16th, but he only had to wait one more hole to nudge ahead.
Fitzpatrick was unlucky to see his long eagle putt from the greenside fringe pull up just short as he tapped in for birdie, which saw him move up to ten under before sliding another gain putt right of the cup at the last.
Andrea Pavan, who played this course as a youngster, is in a ten strong group at six under alongside Korhonen, English pair Matt Wallace and Aaron Rai, Austrian Bernd Wiesberger, French duo Mike Lorenzo-Vera and Julien Guerrier, South African Erik van Rooyen, Finn Pulkkanen and America Kurt Kitayama.
Van Rooyen bogeyed the eighth hole for the second day in a row. The late drop undid his good work which saw him birdie the first and third to move within two of the lead.
Richard Sterne, Justin Harding and Justin Walters are at -1. Sterne’s round came undone on his way in with bogeys at two and six before a double at the eighth sent him down the board.
Jacques Kruyswijk, Dean Burmester and George Coetzee will look to make the most of making the weekend on the number. None of the trio broke par on Friday which leaves them 10 back of Fitzpatrick.
