Euro Q-School heats up

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The second stage of Qualifying School for the European Tour has seen a run of quality scoring across four different courses in southern Spain on Saturday.

England's Graeme A Clark has perhaps been the most impressive overall, following up a seven-under 66 in his first round at the La Manga Club, with a four-under 69 to be on 11-under after two rounds.

Italian Andrea Perrino joined Clark at the top of the leaderboard, however, having posted a five-under 68 on Saturday.

The pair are one stroke ahead of Argentinean Clodomiro Carranza, who blitzed the La Manga layout with an eight-under 65 on Saturday to be outright third, one stroke better than Sam Matton of England and American Scott Pinckney.

At the Costa Ballena Ocean Club, meanwhile, England's Sam Hutsby enjoys a two-stroke lead after shooting an impressive six-under par 66 on Saturday to move to nine under the card, two shots clear of compatriot Jason Levermore and Frenchman Xavier Poncelet on seven under.

Another Englishman, Luke Goddard is on six under, trailed by a quartet of players on five under, made up of South African Tyrone Mordt, Australian Wade Ormsby, Spain's Pedro Oriol and English amateur Tommy King.

Ormsby, one of the co-leaders at Costa Ballena after the opening day, endured a tough second round as he signed off for a one-under 71 on Saturday.

Twenty-year-old Swede Joakim Lagergren, meanwhile, holds a narrow lead at El Valle Golf Resort after only posting a two-under 69 in his second round, to go with a record eight-under 63 on the opening day.

Lagergren could be further in front, had it not been for a run of three consecutive bogeys on his back nine that allowed Englishman David J Smith to close to within one stroke through a three-under 68 round.

And lastly, Ben Barham is leading the way at Las Colinas Golf and Country Club, the Englishman having posted five birdies in a blemish-free five-under 66, his second 66 score in a row.

Barham enjoys a two-stroke lead over Dutchman Tim Sluiter, who finished with a six-under 65 on Saturday in a round that included an eagle at the par-five third hole, along with four birdies.

Across the four courses, though, 300 players are bidding for a place in the final stage of Qualifying School, due to be held at PGA Catalunya, Spain, from December 10-15.

The number of exempt places will be finalised on Sunday, with the exact number of qualifying spots from the second stage to be determined then.

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