Italian Open Second round: Finding a four-leaf clover gave Scotland's David Drysdale some long-overdue good luck as he claimed the halfway lead in the Italian Open in Milan.
Drysdale carded a second round 64 for a 13 under par total and two-shot lead over first-round pacesetter Soren Kjeldsen of Denmark, English duo Phillip Archer and Benn Barham and home favourite Francesco Molinari.
The 31-year-old from Dunbar lost his tour card by less than €580 last season after he suffered a rib injury on the eve of the lucrative Dunhill Links Championship in October and was forced to withdraw.
His place was taken by England's Sam Little, who went on to finish 28th in the event in what turned out to be highly significant come the end of the season.
To add insult to injury, Little eventually secured the last card for 2006 by leapfrogging Drysdale on the money list by saving par on the 72nd hole of the last tournament of the season in Mallorca.
"If I had played the Dunhill and missed every cut until the end of the season I would have kept my card, and I don't think that has happened before," Drysdale said.
"But the injury was so bad I couldn't even hit a bunker shot."
As if that were not enough, Drysdale then missed out on regaining his card at the qualifying school by just one shot after six rounds at San Roque.
But finding a four-leaf clover beside the first green at Castello di Tolcinasco seems to have brought about a change in fortunes for Drysdale, who is competing despite an infected finger on his right hand which required a visit to the local hospital on Tuesday.
"My caddy found it walking from the green to the second tee and put it in his yardage book. I think we'll keep it there for the rest of the weekend," said Drysdale, who won a Challenge Tour event in Barcelona last month.
"I definitely feel it's about time my luck changed. I should be playing out here and want to get back as quickly as possible, whether that is through the Challenge Tour or a good weekend here."
Officially Drysdale had just 19 putts in his second round - putts from the fringe are not counted - and he added: "I don't feel as if I have played that well the first two rounds.
"Today I struggled a little bit, but the putter was dynamite."
Archer only kept his card by virtue of making the cut in his last six tournaments in 2005, but looks set for a much easier time of it this year.
The 34-year-old from Warrington finished joint third in the Spanish Open on Sunday - his best ever finish on tour - and is 60th on the Order of Merit.
He said: "I'm brimming with confidence and being very aggressive, not looking anywhere but the pin and getting all the long putts up to the hole."
On another day of low scoring, Ryder Cup captain Ian Woosnam added a 66 to his opening 70 to lie eight under par.
Told he was within two shots of the lead when he finished, Woosnam joked: "Win this and I'll be playing captain!" But he quickly added: "I've never even thought about it. I'm not fit enough. Even if I won the Open or something I would still do the captaincy."
On his round, the 48-year-old added: "I played very well on the front nine, apart from a few drives, but missed a lot of putts.
"But then I started playing really badly and holing some nice putts, so I suppose it evened itself out. I think I'll have to get the three-wood out to get the ball on the fairway because I've lost confidence with my driver.
"I drove great at the US Masters but seem to have forgotten what I was doing after three weeks off - it must be old age."
It was a dismal day for the Irish, with none of the four making the cut, which came at four-under-par 140.
Stephen Browne and David Higgins missed out by six shots after rounds of 72 and 76. Browne, out in 34, slipped up on the homeward journey of 38 for a total of 146, while Higgins had halves of 38 in his 76.
Michael Hoey finished on 147, while Brian McElhinney shot a one-over-par 73 to finish on 151.
(Irish in bold, British unless stated, Par 72)
131 - D Drysdale 67 64
133 - S Kjeldsen (Den) 63 70, F Molinari (Ita) 68 65, B Barham 65 68, P Archer 66 67
134 - A Rocha (Bra) 68 66, G Havret (Fra) 66 68, A Butterfield 66 68, L Westerberg (Swe) 69 65
135 - S Fernandez (Arg) 68 67, S Struver (Ger) 70 65, P Fowler (Aus) 68 67, J Lomas 67 68, L Oosthuizen (Rsa) 67 68, M Roe 69 66, A Wall 70 65
136 - M Foster 69 67, I Woosnam 70 66, S Dodd 69 67, B Dredge 67 69, R Green (Aus) 67 69, G Bourdy (Fra) 66 70, A McLardy (Rsa) 67 69, (x) M Delpodio (Ita) 67 69
137 - S Scahill (Nzl) 70 67, M Carballo (Arg) 67 70, J Sandelin (Swe) 69 68, H Otto (Rsa) 69 68, P Gustafsson (Swe) 70 67, A Hansen (Den) 70 67, R Jacquelin (Fra) 70 67, M Warren 69 68, C Hanell (Swe) 67 70, J Hepworth 66 71, M Fraser (Aus) 71 66, B Teilleria (Fra) 69 68, R Gomez (Arg) 67 70
138 - D Griffiths 70 68, R Bland 71 67, S Jeppesen (Swe) 67 71, E Canonica (Ita) 69 69, J Bickerton 69 69, T Moore (Rsa) 71 67, T Whitehouse 70 68, A Tadini (Ita) 66 72, N Colsaerts (Bel) 70 68, M Kirk (Rsa) 66 72, D Bransdon (Aus) 69 69, A Bruschi (Ita) 68 70, M Crespi (Ita) 71 67
139 - C Nilsson (Swe) 70 69, F Henge (Swe) 72 67, A Maestroni (Ita) 72 67, F Valera (Spa) 69 70, R Gonzalez (Arg) 74 65, S Webster 70 69
140 - B Sutterfield (USA) 70 70, G Orr 73 67, L Slattery 69 71, D Lynn 71 69, M Persson (Swe) 69 71, P Dwyer 73 67, G Houston 70 70, R McEvoy 71 69, S O'Hara 72 68, S Luna (Spa) 72 68
MISSED CUT
141 - A Coltart 68 73, R Finch 69 72, M Lafeber (Ned) 73 68, E Romero (Arg) 70 71, B Rumford (Aus) 68 73, J Spence 69 72, (x) L Gagli (Ita) 71 70, G Clark 74 67, C Monasterio (Arg) 71 70, I Pyman 71 70
142 - D Lucas 71 71, K Staunton 69 73, H Nystrom (Swe) 73 69, S Khan 70 72, M Eliasson (Swe) 71 71, D Vancsik (Arg) 71 71, L James 71 71, P Baker 69 73, J Backstrom (Swe) 69 73, W Schauman (Swe) 72 70, N Cheetham 75 67, R Rock 71 71, I Garbutt 71 71, A Marshall 68 74, M Ruiz (Par) 71 71
143 - S Little 69 74, M Cayeux (Zim) 72 71, A Mednick (Swe) 74 69, S Bebb 75 68, W Ormsby (Aus) 75 68, J Remesy (Fra) 69 74, M Siem (Ger) 73 70, D Dixon 71 72, P Golding 72 71, R Coles 69 74, M Brier (Aut) 72 71, P O'Malley (Aus) 72 71, M Olander (Swe) 70 73
144 - M Bernardini (Ita) 74 70, A Forsyth 73 71, D Carter 73 71, M Florioli (Ita) 73 71, C Cevaer (Fra) 70 74, S Little 74 70, F Aguilar (Chile) 71 73, S Manley 72 72
145 - O David (Fra) 68 77, G Emerson 69 76, R Karlsson (Swe) 73 72, A Cabrera (Arg) 71 74, M Reale (Ita) 78 67, S Torrance 72 73, (x) A Romano (Ita) 71 74, A Romero (Arg) 73 72, P Sjoland (Swe) 74 71, J Skold (Swe) 70 75, T Karjalainen (Fin)68 77
146 - G Pietrobono (Ita) 73 73, P Broadhurst 74 72, M Soffietti (Ita) 75 71, Stephen Browne (Irl) 74 72, S Webster 71 75, David Higgins(Irl) 70 76, E Lattanzi (Ita) 71 75, M Scarpa (Ita) 77 69
147 - Michael Hoey (NIrl) 76 71, G Davies 77 70, G Grillo (Ita) 76 71, C Rocca (Ita) 72 75, K Eriksson (Swe) 75 72, Or Whitely 70 77
148 - W Abery (Rsa) 72 76, A Sjostrand (Swe) 73 75, S Walker 76 72, B Mason 75 73
149 - M Millar (Aus) 73 76, D Fichardt (Rsa) 75 74, M Mackenzie 79 70
151 - G Evans 76 75, C Rodiles (Spa) 72 79, Brian McElhinney (Irl) 78 73
152 - J Donaldson 74 78, R Russell 77 75, G Brand Jnr 80 72, (x) F Colombo (Ita) 77 75
153 - G Molteni (Ita) 78 75, T Tuovinen (Fin) 81 72, (x) F Celano (Ita) 82 71
155 - A Zanini (Ita) 75 80 156 (x) E Molinari (Ita) 76 80.
