VILAMOURA, Portugal: Ross Fisher of England shot a 4-under 67 Friday to extend his lead at the Portugal Masters to three strokes after the second round.
Fisher hurt his left foot while walking off the first tee, but he played through the pain to make one eagle and four birdies to go with two bogeys on the Oceanico Victoria Golf Course.
“I didn’t think anything of it at first and for two or three holes it was OK, but then it started to get really sore,” the 31-year-old Fisher said. “The physio told me I was not doing any damage by playing on. It was uncomfortable for a while, but I was feeling it again at the end and I’m just very relieved to get through.
“My balance was not very good, but I tried to grind it out and fortunately I came through with a decent score.”
Scotland’s Stephen Gallacher, who shared the overnight lead after round one with Fisher, and Bernd Wiesberger of Austria were three shots back.
“I hit greens in regulation, so I had pretty much 35 putts,” said Gallacher, who has yet to bogey a hole through two rounds. “Some were close, some were good two putts from distance, so it was about even really.”
Ryder Cup player Martin Kaymer, who sealed Europe’s dramatic win over the United States two weeks ago, and captain Jose Maria Olazabal both missed the cut.
Their Ryder Cup teammate Francesco Molinari carded a second straight 71 to make the cut on level par.
