Sebastian Söderberg will take a one-shot lead into the weekend at the weather-delayed KLM Open after a marathon second day at The International.
The Swede was in the half of the draw who managed to get their first round completed on day one and started round two two shots off the lead.
He had edged one ahead when play ended just before 9.00pm but will have four holes to complete on Saturday morning, with conditions usually tougher earlier in the day in Amsterdam.
Söderberg was at eight under, one shot clear of Kiwi Daniel Hillier and Japan’s Yuto Katsuragawa, who were in the clubhouse, and English pair Joe Dean and Callum Tarren, who had two and five holes remaining respectively.
Some players will have as many as eight holes left when play resumes at 7.15am, with the third round then set to be a two-tee start, beginning at 10.00am at the earliest.
Söderberg finished outside the top 100 on the Race to Dubai in 2025 and arrived in the Netherlands having made just two of his last eight cuts.
But he showed all the class that has made him a winner and seven-time runner-up on the DP World Tour in his 14 holes on Friday evening.
Starting on the tenth, he put his tee-shot to tap-in range at the 13th and then birdied the par-five 15th and 18th.
A bogey on the second dropped him out of the leading logjam but he holed from 28 feet for eagle on the next to jump into the lead.
OFF TO A FLIER
Hillier started the day at one over having played ten holes of round one before birdies on the par-five 15th and 18th had him under par.
He then got off a flying start in round two, following a smart approach at the 11th with mid-range putts at the 12th and 13th before once again taking advantage of the 15th and holing from the fringe at the 17h.
Another birdie at a par-five on the third was followed by an excellent tee-shot at the par-three next but he dropped his only shot of the day on the sixth.
“There was a lot of golf played today so I am a bit tired but played pretty steady all day,” he said. “Today was a little bit easier than yesterday for sure, still not easy, but just good to play a shot on its merit, and I did that pretty well so proud of that.
“The swing felt nice and I holed a few putts. Just one of those days were I felt in sync with everything which was nice. A couple putts went in early, and it gave me some momentum for the day.”
Katsuragawa completed just six holes on day one in one over par but got back on an even keel with a birdie on his first hole on Friday, adding further gains at the second and third.
He started round two with a bogey on the first but after a smart approach into the next, he then took advantage of the two front-nine par fives to turn in 34.
A hat-trick of gains to start the back nine sent him flying up the leaderboard and he added another at the 15th but gave it back on the 17th.
“I am happy today, the long game not so much but I am putting very good,” he said.
Dean was alongside Söderberg after four birdies and a bogey but dropped a shot on the sixth, while Tarren made his move with six birdies and a bogey in his 13 holes.
American Jordan Gumberg and Austrian Maximilian Steinlechner were in the clubhouse at six under after rounds of 68 and 69 respectively, with first-round leader Julien Guerrier also at six under through 16 holes.
Finn Oliver Lindell and American Hunter Logan were at five under with four and eight holes to play, with 12 players in the clubhouse four shots off the lead including Major Champions Francesco Molinari and Danny Willett.
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