Jarmo Sandelin was measured for his Ryder Cup uniform a fortnight ago - and after the second round of the German Open it looks like being time well spent. The 32-year-old Swede fired a superb 64 for an 11-under-total of 133 to forge a one-shot lead over South African Roger Wessels at the top of the leaderboard.
Victory at the Sporting Club Berlin and the winner's cheque of £120,000 would seal Sandelin's place in the European side to defend the trophy in America in September, and even a top 10 finish should make him a definite member of Mark James' side.
Paul McGinley and Padraig Harrington, who harbour their own Ryder Cup ambitions, both lie six shots behind the leader on 139. McGinley added a three-under-par 69 to an opening 70, while Harrington reversed those figures.
Although the lanky Sandelin is not taking anything for granted, he is looking forward to making his cup debut at Brookline.
"It would be really nice to qualify and be able to relax a bit. I'm very close to one of my dreams and two good rounds and I would be there," said Sandelin, who won the Spanish Open in April to take him to fifth in the current points table.
"The Ryder Cup is the main team event we have. Golf is an individual sport and it's great to play in a team against the best players in the world and have your continent behind you. "When you're a junior you look up to all those guys playing in the Ryder Cup and dream that one day if you work hard enough and are lucky at the right time you can get there.
"I like match-play between two guys, the fight. It's different from playing a 72-hole event because most of the time you don't see the guy who is leading.
"It's good in match-play to put pressure directly on the guy you're playing against, and he can see that. I look forward to it."
The pressure of playing in an event that was labelled the "War on the Shore" in 1991 clearly holds no fears for Sandelin, for whom the death of his mother earlier this year has brought things into perspective.
"There will be nerves of course, but I get nervous in the last round of ordinary tournaments and hopefully my game is good enough now to handle the pressure," he added.
"In golf there is always pressure on different levels, but I don't think anything out there could hurt me more than losing my mum (who died in February). I just think about her, so there is no pressure in the world that I would be intimidated by."
Wessels fired a second successive 67 to be only one adrift of Sandelin, with Holland's Robert Jan Derksen and Australian Geoff Oglivy a shot further back.
Overnight leader Gary Evans, who smashed the course record with a 62 in the first round, could manage only a 75 to finish seven under in a group also containing compatriot David Carter.
"The first round came right out of the blue and today I just didn't play that well," the 30-year-old Evans said.
"I had eight more putts than on Thursday, but if you'd offered me seven under for two rounds before the start of the week I'd have taken it."
Meanwhile, Denmark's Soren Hansen enjoyed a highly profitable day with a hole in one on the 189-yard 17th, his six-iron shot earning him a BMW Z3 Cabriolet worth around £25,000.
