Golf; Fisher lands two-shot lead Upturn in form for struggling former Ryder Cup star

England's Ross Fisher shot a second round 66 to move into a two-shot lead at the halfway stage of the ISPS Handa Wales Open at Celtic Manor.

The former Ryder Cup star has not had a top-five finish for almost 18 months and has slumped from No. 27 to 157 in the world rankings, but after resuming on Friday with a birdie two at the 10th, he picked up five more shots to move clear of the chasing pack.

Fisher was part of Europe's victorious side at the Newport venue in 2010 and is hoping those memories can help get his career back on track this weekend.

Second round leaderboard:
GB&Ire unless stated

-6 R Fisher
-4 L Slattery
-3 F Zanotti (Par)
-3 T Jaidee (Tha)
-3 C Wood

Click here for collated scores

"Hopefully it's the start of a big summer for me," said the 31-year-old. "I guess it's the dreaded curse of the comedown from the Ryder Cup. You have such high expectations and it's been disappointing."

He is currently down in 72nd place on the Ryder Cup points table with only 12 weeks of the race to go.

"Once you've played one you don't want to miss one. It's still a goal of mine, but it's a big outside goal at the moment because I've got to play damn well to get on that team," he added.

"I made an equipment change this year - I just felt the time was right - and it's probably taken me longer to adjust than I would have liked.

"But if I can play how I've played the first two days, especially today, I feel like I'm really tough to beat.