Italian Open: 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 £400 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 a highly significant result 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.

Drysdale said: "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. But the injury was so bad I couldn't even hit a bunker shot."

As if that was 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.
"The finger is improving all the time since it burst on Thursday morning. I wanted the doctor at the hospital to lance it but he said it was too early in the infection, but I hit a couple of fat ones on the range and that seemed to do the trick!"

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."

It was a miserable tournament for the Irish contingent as all four players missed the cut by at least six shots or more. Stephen Browne (72) and David Higgins (76) held two over aggregates (146), while Michael Hoey (71) was a shot further back. Brian McElhinney continues to struggle to make the transition into the paid ranks and his 73 left him on seven over (151).

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."