Smith takes two-shot lead at European Open

Englishman Jordan Smith will take a two-shot lead into the weekend at the Porsche European Open in Hamburg.

The 29-year-old hit back from an early bogey to register five birdies that carried him to six under par.

France's Victor Perez sits second after two rounds at four under, with Julien Brun, Joakim Lagergren and Niklas Norgaard Moller at three under par.

Chippenham-born Smith claimed his maiden DP World Tour title in 2017 at the same event, and now sits 13th in the tour rankings.

"I have really good memories of most of the holes around here," said Smith. "Winning back then, even though it was five years ago, I still remember a lot of it.

"I'm looking forward to continuing the good stuff and seeing how the weekend goes."

Perez continued his recent good form as he fired a 71, birdieing two of his last three holes as he recovered from a bogey and a double.

The Frenchman's win at last week's Dutch Open was his second on the DP World Tour and he was delighted to maintain his momentum.

"I'm just trying to ride it as much as possible," he said. "I think we try to use those moments as players. When things go your way you hit shots and it feels easy, you try not to play quickly, which is not a bad thing for me, and you just get on with it.

"There's a lot of golf left. It's a long weekend, I think it's supposed to be the same weather, nice and not very windy. I expect the Tour to set the course as difficult as they can to control the score.

"I'm very pleased again. I thought the course played very difficult. The pins were harder than yesterday, there was less wind but sometimes it's still just as difficult."

There were a total of 12 players at one under, including reigning champion Marcus Armitage and local favourites