Golf - Madeira Islands Open:Simon Thornton stormed into contention with a six under 66 on day two of the €700,000 Madeira Islands Open which left him just two shots off the halfway lead held by England's James Morrison.
The Qualifying School graduate could be forgiven for having other things on his mind this week as his wife Ciara is due to give birth to their first child tomorrow.
"I won't leave, no," said Thornton about the prospect of flying home to Newcastle if his wife goes into labour. "We made that decision before I came here. It's been nice spending the last few weeks together and now we're approaching D-Day as such.
"That'll be great as well. There was a lot of debate over whether I'd come this week but because of the lack of opportunities in the last month I had to come and play here.
"If I'd not come here and taken a couple of weeks off then all of a sudden you get a card but not taking the opportunities, I had to come. I keep checking my phone all the time. There's no word yet."
Even with such distractions the 33-year-old reeled off seven birdies in his round and just the one dropped shot at the second to get to 10 under, two shots off Morrison's lead.
Morrison put himself in position to win a first professional title with a sparkling 65 with most of the action taking place on the back nine after he started his round from the 10th at Porto Santo Golf Club.
The 25-year-old picked up an eagle at the 10th and went on to record five birdies in a back nine of 29. He leads on 12 under with Scotland's George Murray sandwiched between the leader and Thornton in second after shooting 67.
"It was a good day. The first hole I drove a three iron to about 25 feet and rolled it in for an eagle so that was a nice start to the morning," said Morrison.
"Every hole seemed like I was hitting it on the green and rolling it in - it wasn't like I was holing monster putts.
"I made double bogey on the fourth (his 13th) when I hit it in the water but I recovered well from that. I felt very much in control. I didn't feel like I was getting ahead of myself. It was a very good day."
Michael Hoey is safely into the weekend after a 68 left the Belfast pro four under.
Gary Murphy missed the cut by one shot despite a 69 moving him up to one over. Gareth Shaw (71) finished three over, two better than Colm Moriarty (77), while Niall Kearney's 80 dropped him to 10 over.