Tight at the top in Czech Open

Thirteen players are separated by only two shots at the halfway stage of the Czech Open – and they include two of the men chasing a Ryder Cup place.

Peter Hanson, 15th on the points table, shares the lead on seven under par with fellow Swede Fredrik Widmark.

England’s Simon Dyson, one spot below Hanson in the cup race with only one more week to come, is on five under as he also seeks the win which would take him into the all-important top nine at the expense of Paul Casey.

Hanson, who received an invitation to the event on Monday, added a 70 to his opening 67 and said: “I left four or five shots out there, but I’m feeling good about my game.”

Widmark is a lowly 1,354th – joint last – on the world rankings after having shoulder surgery and then breaking his wrist falling off a roof.

But the 34-year-old not only made his first halfway cut of the season on the European Tour, but caught Hanson by grabbing three birdies in his last four holes for a 67.

One behind are Ireland’s Peter Lawrie, who in contrast bogeyed two of the last four, Belgian Nicolas Colsaerts, Argentina’s Clodomiro Carranza and another Swede, Fredrik Andersson Hed.