Paul McBride and Max Kennedy continued their recent form by booking weekend work at the Vierumäki Finnish Challenge supported by The Finnish Golf Union. Both men sit in a tie for 25th heading into moving day and are poised for a weekend charge.
At the top, George Mason will take a one-shot lead into the weekend as the Englishman carded eight birdies and two bogeys to move to 13 under at Vierumäki Resort, one ahead of German Anton Albers in second.
The 24-year-old was delighted with his opening two rounds in Finland and highlighted accuracy off the tee and putting as being key to success so far.
“I played well today, and it was pretty solid,” he said. “Overall I’m very happy and I hit it great off the tee.
“I tried to play pretty smart and made sure not to short-side myself because these greens are very slopy. I putted nicely too.
“Around here you have to be good off the tee and hit greens. It’s important to make smart club choices because there’s a lot of run offs around the greens.”
Mason, who carded a seven under 65 in round one, admitted that scoring was slightly tougher on day two and is now looking forward to the weekend as he goes in search of a maiden HotelPlanner Tour victory.
“It played a bit tougher today with the wind and some tricky pin positions,” he said. “I feel confident in my game but it’s the first time I’ve been in this position so I’m slightly nervous.
“I’m looking forward to the weekend and hopefully I can handle it well. I’m just going to try and enjoy it.
“Anything can happen over the next two days and there are a lot of good players playing so I’m just going to give it my all.”
Scotland’s David Law sits in third position on 11 under par, while Italian Aron Zemmer, American Chase Hanna, Hugo Townsend of Sweden and overnight leader Alvaro Hernandez Cabezuela are a shot further back in fourth.
Both Robert Moran and Hugh Foley missed the cut which fell at -2 with Moran missing by two and Foley by five. The third round will get under way at 7:30am local time, with McBride teeing it up at 7:52am and Kennedy at 7:41am.
