Retief Goosen retained the lead of the BMW International Open on Friday but the South African now leads Denmark's Soren Kjeldsen by just one stroke.

Double US Open Championship winner Goosen had carded an eight-under-par 64 in his opening round but a second round 68 allowed some of the field to close the gap at the two million euro EPGA event.

One shot behind Kjeldsen are David Drysdale and Nick Dougherty, who share third place on 134 while Danny Willett, Thomas Levet and Thongchai are a further shot behind.

Goosen went 33 holes without a bogey, but after dropping a stroke at the 441 yard seventh he closed with his 13th birdie of the week.

"I didn't really give myself that many chances," said Goosen. "I hit a lot of putts that didn't go in. But overall very happy, I'm happy with the round today and kept it together."

Kjeldsen produced a seven-under 65 just a week after having to pull out of the US Open Championship with an ear infection.

"I had four weeks off and I was just really happy to be playing again," he said. "I didn't mind it was raining and just happy to be out there the last two days have been good.

"I love it, it's not what we saw a lot on Tour really because it is so low scoring. I think the crowd loves it, as well. They see a lot of birdies here and a lot of eagles and it makes us look pretty good."

One of the stories of the day was 51-year-old German Bernhard Langer, whose second successive 68 for eight under gives him another opportunity to become the oldest winner in European Tour history.

AFP

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