Marco Penge signed for a flawless 4-under 67 to reach 9-under and take a one shot lead at the halfway mark at the Open de España presented by Madrid.

“Very patient day, nice to have a bogey-free round,” said the Englishman. “I played pretty solid, still a couple of bits there that I can improve on but all in all it was a steady round of golf.

“I think if you’re not patient, it’s going to catch you out. It’s so tricky and a little bit fiddly and if you’re not fully focused or concentrating over every shot, you’re going to make bogeys.

“I wasn’t really focusing on my score out there, it was mainly just to stay as patient as I could and see what the round gives me. I finished with two birdies there, when you are patient you do get rewarded so I did get that today.

“My game feels pretty good, it doesn’t feel amazing but I feel like I’m managing my game really well,” added Penge.

“I had a good range session after my round yesterday so today was slightly better – still probably only about a seven out of ten but hopefully I can play some better golf over the weekend.”

Dane Jeff Winther fired an eagle at the par-5 14th and closed with a bogey-free 64 to take a share of second place at 8-unedr alongside Switzerland’s Joel Girrbach with a bogey-free 65 and Canadian Aaron Cockerill who made two bogeys and carded a 67.

England’s Daniel Brown made one bogey and closed with a 66 for a share of the six-way at 7-under.

Related: Max Greyserman in three-way tie for lead in Japan

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