Jamie Donaldson and Marcus Armitage were locked together at the top of the leaderboard when the second round of the Aphrodite Hills Cyprus Open was suspended due to fading light on Friday evening.
Donaldson was on the final hole when play was halted, having made six birdies and one bogey over the first 17 to get to 11 under par for the tournament, while Englishman Armitage had mixed an eagle with five birdies and a solitary bogey in his first 15 holes to join the Welshman at the summit.
They will complete their second rounds from 8.00am local time on Saturday morning.
Scot David Drysdale and early starters Sami Välimäki and Richard McEvoy were the leading duo’s nearest challengers on ten under, one stroke ahead of the large group containing first round co-leader Johannes Veerman.
Ryder Cup star Donaldson had made six birdies and no bogeys in his opening 65 on day one, and he picked up where he left off on Friday afternoon, following up back to back birdies at the second and third with further gains on the sixth, seventh and ninth to jump to 11 under par.
Donaldson gave himself further chances in the early stages of his back nine, narrowly missing from six feet on the 11th green after a delightful approach shot.
He eventually grabbed the outright lead on 12 under courtesy of an eight foot birdie putt at the 13th before watching his lengthy birdie try on the 14th hit the hole and run on a further five feet.
Donaldson would miss the return putt to drop his first shot of the tournament so far.
With the sun setting fast, the 45-year-old made pars at the 15th, 16th and 17th before play was halted.
Armitage, playing in the day’s final group, opened his second round with a sensational eagle on the par four first before picking up shots on the fourth and sixth to get to nine under.
He bogeyed the short seventh but bounced straight back with a birdie at his very next hole to reach the turn in 32.
The Englishman grabbed a share of the lead after starting his back nine with birdies at the tenth and 11th.
He received a helping hand on the 14th as his long range birdie putt hit the flag, stopping the ball in its tracks and leaving it around a foot from the hole for a certain par.
Armitage made another par on the short 15th before the players ran out of daylight.
Scotland’s Drysdale would have been alongside the leaders on 11 under had he not left his seven foot par putt on the last just short.
The 45-year-old, who is searching for his maiden European Tour title at the 509th time of asking, made four birdies and a single bogey on his front nine before adding further birdies at the 11th and 13th.
He was perhaps a little bit unlucky at the 16th, where his 35 foot birdie putt lost a bit of pace when it hit a marker on its way to the hole and pulled up short.
After a lovely up-and-down from the bunker on the 17th for par, Drysdale dropped a shot at the 18th to head into the weekend on ten under.
He said: “A little disappointed to bogey the last. It was a poor lay-up and I got in trouble from there.
European Tour Release, Oct 30, 2020
