A Friday 65 for Rafa Cabrera Bello moved him to the top of the leaderboard after a second round seven under par which moved him to 13 under par at the half way stage.

The Dubai based Spaniard was out early on Friday morning and got the best of the conditions. He started the day on the 10th hole with a par and immediately made gains on the 11th and 12th with birdies. A double bogey five on the par three 17th hole as he found the water hazard on the infamous island green to put him back to level par for the round. But a bounce back birdie on the 18th hole moved him to one under par through his opening nine.

“17 is a tough hole and it was pretty windy. I got a wind gust, I didn’t hit that bad of a shot, but it is what it is. I just kept my head down and kept focusing on what I was doing. The birdie on 18 put me right back on track and I played an excellent front nine” said the Spaniard.

The birdie blitz really came when the 38-year-old was on his inward nine. Six birdies in eight holes closing his second nine holes in just 30 strokes, 65 for the round, totalling in 13 under for the tournament.

Cabrera Bello continued “I’ve been doing a lot of work over the break on my swing and trying to make it better. I feel some weeks it really clicks, other weeks it’s not quite there. I’m trending in the right direction and happy the swing is feeling good this week and I’m making good scores.”

Rafa has a two shot lead from Praguian Fabrizio Zanotti. The 39-year-old had a second round 67 to sit in solo 2nd place.

Six players are situated just a further shot back at ten under par. Bring, Olesen, Paul, Lawrence, Knappe and Higa. All still within a decent position for heading into the weekend for the final prize pool of USD 2,000,000.

Leading the home contingent is Thailand’s Kiradech Aphibarnrat after opening rounds of 68 & 67 to sit at nine under par, just four shots off the lead at Amata Spring Country Club.

Top of the leaderboard after Round Two

1 - Cabrera Bello, R (66, 65) -132 - Zanotti, F (66, 67) -11T3 - Bring, C (67, 67) -10       Olesen, T (67, 67) -10       Lawrence, T (66, 68) -10       Paul, Y (65, 69) -10       Knappe, A (65, 69) -10       Higa, K (70, 64) -10