Thorbjorn Olesen shot a course-record 61 on Friday and will enter the weekend with a one-shot lead at the inaugural Gran Canaria Lopesan Open.

The Dane, playing in his first event of the 2021 Race to Dubai after suffering a wrist injury early in the year, carded seven birdies and an eagle to reach 14 under, one better than Dutchman Wil Besseling (63) and Wales’ Rhys Enoch (62).

“I was not expecting this,” said Olesen. “It was an amazing experience and obviously to get a son three or four weeks ago, I didn’t have that much practice coming in here, only last week.

“The expectations were pretty low but it was great fun to be out there yesterday and today and shooting such a good number.

“Overall it was good, my putting was really, really good both days – that always helps, obviously – but beside that I was always in play, I hit a lot of fairways over the two days.

“I wasn’t really expecting anything. I was just trying on every shot and not really thinking about it too much and I think that helped me a lot.”

England’s Sam Horsfield and Scotland’s Connor Syme shared the course record after 61s of their own on a low-scoring day two in Gran Canaria. The pair were four and six shots back, respectively.

Overnight leaders Maximilian Kieffer (65) of Germany and Frenchman Robin Roussel (65) were 12 under, alongside Austrian Matthias Schwab (63).

2021 Gran Canaria Lopesan Open

Top-5 Leaders: Round 2
Pos-Player-To Par-(Rd 2)
1. Thorbjorn Olesen -14 (-9)
2. Wil Besseling -13 (-7)
2. Rhys Enoch -13 (-7)
4. Maximilian Kieffer -12 (-5)
4. Robin Roussel -12 (-5)
4. Matthias Schwab -12 (-7)

Material, including press releases, from the European Tour Media were used to compile this report.