Chris Paisley will take a one-shot lead into the third round of the Italian Open but he will have to hold off an elite chasing pack at Golf Club Milano if he is to hold onto it.
The second round had to be completed yesterday morning after lengthy delays on days one and two due to heavy rain and thunderstorms in the Monza area but clear skies and excellent scoring conditions greeted the players on day three.
Paisley had five holes to complete in the morning and he made three birdies to sign for a 63 and move to 13 under, one shot ahead of Hazeltine-bound Danny Willett who is finalising his Ryder Cup preparations this week.
Defending champion Rikard Karlberg could not start his second round on Friday but showed no ill effects from the disruption, carding a 67 to sit at 11 under alongside Chris Hanson.
Chris Wood is another player getting ready to take on the United States in Minnesota and he matched Paisley’s 63 to get to ten under, a shot clear of Jamie McLeary — who made a hole-in-one on the tenth — Nacho Elvira and Francesco Molinari.
Paisley finished 108th on last season’s Race to Dubai to narrowly keep his card and sitting at 121st currently, he is delighted to be finding form at the right time.
“I’m obviously delighted,” he said. “It’s just nice to be playing some good golf again.”
“To come out again this morning and have the ball under control from the first shot was very pleasing, I felt like I continued my rhythm from last night.”
“In some ways it may have benefited me to finish my second round this morning, because I can hopefully just pick up where I left off when the third round gets under way this afternoon.”
Paisley’s first shot of the day was an eagle putt on the 14th and while he could not roll that in, he made his birdie before adding another on the next and when he also birdied the 17th he had six in eight holes as part of his blemish-free week so far.
Masters Tournament champion Willett also began with a birdie on the fifth before adding two more on the eighth and ninth.“It’s been good, I’ve kept the mistakes to a minimum and made a fair few birdies,” he said. “It’s nice to see the work I’ve been putting in over the past couple of months finally starting to pay off.”
Swede Karlberg turned in 35 but then put a stunning approach close on the 11th and, while he bogeyed the 13th, birdies on the 14th, 15th and last flew him up the leaderboard.
Hanson had six holes to complete upon the resumption and he eagled the 14th for the second day in a row before adding a birdie on the 17th.
Wood was two under for this first seven holes but then went on a charge from the eighth, picking up six birdies in his next seven holes highlighted by a brilliant up-and-down from the sand on the 14th.
McLeary made the perfect start with his first shot of the day, holing his 194-yard tee-shot on the tenth with a five iron for the 35th hole-in-one of the season.
“It started out right and drew in towards the flag, pitched about six feet short and started rolling towards the pin,” he said after signing for a 66. “Some guys to the right of the green started cheering but I didn’t want to believe it until I got there and found it in the hole.”
“I probably didn’t calm down properly for another three or four holes.”
Molinari signed for a 68 with Elvira carding a 66 to sit a shot ahead of Richard Bland, Alejandro Ca?izares, Richard Green, David Horsey, Robert Karlsson and Thomas Linard.
Leading scores following the rain-interrupted
Second-round
129-Chris Paisley 66 63
130-Danny Willett 66 64
131-Chris Hanson 66 65, Rikard Karlberg (SWE) 64 67
132-Chris Wood 69 63
133-Francesco Molinari (ITA) 65 68, Jamie McLeary 67 66, Nacho Elvira (ESP) 67 66
134-Richard Bland 67 67, Robert Karlsson (SWE) 66 68, Thomas Linard (FRA) 69 65, Alejandro Canizares (ESP) 67 67, David Horsey 67 67, Richard Green (AUS) 68 66
135-Felipe Aguilar (CHI) 67 68, Daniel Im (USA) 67 68, Byeong-Hun An (KOR) 65 70, Matthew Fitzpatrick 68 67, Alexander Levy (FRA) 68 67

Missed the cut
140-Paul Lawrie 72 68, Padraig Harrington 69 71
144-Niclas Fasth (SWE) 71 73.