Higgins hopeful of winning final

David Higgins has kept his hopes of winning the Bouygues Telecom Grand final very much alive, after a second consecutive 68 gave the 32-year-old from Waterville a two round aggregate of six under par 136.

This leaves him just four shots off the pace in Bordeaux.

Scot David Drysdale and Swede Mathias Eliasson lead the way after both players carded second round 65s, with English rookie Oliver Wilson in second spot on seven under par.

Higgins is in a six-strong group on six under after his 68.

While Higgins is still very much in the hunt for one of the 15 European Tour Cards on offer to the field, which consists of the top 45 Ranked Challenge Tour players, his compatriots Stephen Browne and Michael Hoey look set for a visit to the Qualifying School finals in November.

At one under par, it would take a massive effort for Browne to make it into one of the top two spots to guarantee his card, while Hoey fell back to three over after a second round 73.