England's Graeme Storm moved into contention for his first European Tour title in the early stages of the second round of the Open de Argentina. Storm carded a second-round 66 for a halfway total of sixunder-par 134 at the Jockey Club and a five-way share of the lead.
Overnight leader Angel Franco had yet to begin his second round, but Argentina's Ricardo Gonzalez and Swedes Olle Karlsson and Carl Pettersson had all finished on six under alongside Storm.
The 23-year-old from Hartlepool, who is playing his first full season on the European Tour after gaining his card at the qualifying school in November, carded five birdies and one bogey to go with his opening 68.
Compatriot Matt Blackey continued his excellent recent form when he started his second round, a birdie at the par-five 10th, his opening hole, taking him to five under par and just one shot off the lead.
Argentina's Eduardo Romero, who helped promote the tournament and make it part of the European Tour for the first time this year, was two shots off the lead after a 66 that could have been much better.
The 45-year-old missed three short putts for birdie and then dropped shots at his closing two holes, but is still well placed to go one better than last year when he lost in a play-off to Vicente Fernandez.
Franco must have been delighted to have seen half the field try and fail to better his total - and he wasted no time in moving into a two-shot lead with birdies at the second and third.
His charge was halted with a two bogeys, though, before a birdie on the ninth took him out in 33 - one under par - and seven under for the tournament.
That was now only good enough for a share of the lead alongside local favourite Angel Cabrera who was out in 32 with four birdies to threaten once again to claim a long-overdue maiden title.
Few of the other afternoon starters were making much of an impression, with Blackey level for the day and four under overall after 12 holes.
Second Round
Early leading scores (Brit unless stated)
134 - C Pettersson (Swe) 65 69, G Storm 68 66, O Karlsson (Swe) 65 69, Ricardo Gonzalez (Arg) 70 64. 135 - J Berendt (Arg) 70 65. 136 - E Simsek (Ger) 65 71, E Romero (Arg) 70 66, R Johnson (Swe) 65 71. 137 - M Mouland 69 68, S Hurley 73 64. 138 - A Canete (Arg) 73 65, A Raitt 70 68, A Wall 68 70, J Zapata (Arg) 69 69, D Bishop (USA) 67 71. 139 - M Molina (Arg) 70 69, N Henning (Rsa) 70 69, T Levet (Fra) 69 70, M Jonzon (Swe) 72 67, F Cea (Spa) 69 70, M Florioli (Ita) 71 68. 140 - C Rodiles (Spa) 73 67, C Monasterio (Arg) 74 66. 141 - S Khan 70 71, R Coceres (Arg) 70 71, D Edlund (Swe) 71 70, J Skold (Swe) 73 68, M Santi (Ita) 72 69, D Borrego (Spa) 69 72. 142 - M Lonardi (Arg) 72 70, G Havret (Fra) 72 70, R Franco (Par) 68 74, G Rojas (Arg) 72 70, N Colsaerts (Bel) 75 67. 143 - A Beal 72 71, S Richardson 72 71, O Edmond (Fra) 70 73, T Hegna (USA) 73 70, A Sowa (Arg) 72 71. 144 - J Robinson 72 72, R Gomez (Arg) 73 71, R Byrd (USA) 73 71, G Piovano (Arg) 75 69. 145 - A Cejka (Ger) 72 73. 146 - (x) C Carranza (Arg) 70 76, A Saavedra (Arg) 74 72, F Montovia (Arg) 71 75, M Rodriguez (Arg) 74 72, S Luna (Spa) 73 73, F Ruberlei (Bra) 73 73, C Machado (Arg) 72 74. 147 - W Miranda (Arg) 72 75, D Higgins (Ire) 72 75, E Rivas (Arg) 76 71. 148 - (x) N Bollini (USA) 74 74, O Solis (Arg) 73 75, (x) F Aleman (Arg) 76 72, A Romero (Col) 74 74, Rodolfo Gonzalez (Arg) 73 75. 149 - H Ordonez (Arg) 72 77, D Nunez (Arg) 78 71, B Rumford (Aus) 76 73, R Alarcon (Mex) 72 77, P Streeter 70 79. 150 - A Fernandez (Chile) 76 74, P Benzadon (Arg) 74 76. 151 - E Pesenti (Bra) 75 76, P Martinez (Par) 74 77. 153 - P Monetti (Arg) 78 75, F Amico (Arg) 79 74, J Alonso (Spa) 79 74, R Montenegro (Arg) 77 76, F Molina (Arg) 79 74. 155 - O Reino (Arg) 75 80. 156 - (x) P Del Grosso (Arg) 80 76. 157 - J Cantero (Arg) 76 81. 158 - M Chavez (Arg) 76 82.
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