Little goes large

Scotsman Euan Little powered to the top of the leaderboard after the second round of the European Tour qualifying school stage two in Spain.

The 28-year-old, a two-time winner on the European Challenge Tour, carded an eight-under-par 63 at Emporda for a 13-under aggregate of 129 and leads by a stroke from Frenchman Sebastien Delagrange and overnight pacesetter Paul Marantz of Australia.

Former Walker Cup players Jamie Elson and Graham Rankin moved up into the qualifying places on 138 but David Dixon, the leading amateur at the the 2001 Open championship, saw his hopes of progressing suffer a blow as he tumbled down to 65th place with a 73.

Hull’s Richard Finch moved up into a share of the lead at the halfway point at the El Bosque Country Club near Valencia.

The former English Amateur champion fired a 68 for a nine-under total of 135 to share top spot with ex-Austrian Amateur champion Niki Zitny.

Norway’s Oyvind Rojahn hoisted himself to the top of the leaderboard at the nearby Golf Oliva Nova course.

The 31-year-old carded a second consecutive 64 for a three-shot lead over former Amateur champion Iain Pyman who carded a 68.

Spain’s Tomas Munoz fired a 63 to move into a share of third while two-time European Tour winner Mark Mouland of Wales stayed in the hunt to progress to next week’s final with a 69.