ALCALA DE HENARES, Spain, Oct. 7 (UPI) -- Lee Slattery used birdies in his final two holes Friday to move into the lead halfway through the European Tour's Madrid Masters.
Slattery overcame windy conditions at the El Encin Golf Hotel for a 6-under-par 66 Friday. He is 11-under 133 for the tournament.
Eduardo De La Riva and Francisco Molinari each shot 5-under 67 Friday and share second one stroke behind Slattery. Lorenzo Gagli had a 2-under 70 in the second round and is alone in third at 9-under 135.
First-round leader Ross McGowan was even-par in the second round and is tied with Brett Rumford (71 Friday) for fifth at 8-under.
Slattery opened with a birdie at the first hole and used birdies at 6 and 8 to make the turn at 3-under. He added a birdie at the 10th hole but had a bogey at No. 12. He got that stroke back at 14 -- dropping in an 80-footer for birdie -- but it was birdies at 17 and 18 that put him in the lead.
"I got off to a good start," Slattery said. "I was 2-under early and just kept it together and had a nice finish, birdied the last two holes," he said.
