Golf: Last week's winner Tom Lewis pulled out of the Castello Masters in Spain after suffering from a virus. The 20-year-old from Welwyn Garden City, whose victory in the Portugal Masters in only his third start as a professional put him third in Europe's Ryder Cup race and earned him over €425,000, managed an opening level-par 71.

But, while Swede Alex Noren took over at the top on 10 under with a superb 63, Lewis decided to withdraw and leave tournament host Sergio Garcia and defending champion Matteo Manassero to play on their own in the second round.

Garcia resumed four under par and Manassero two under. They both had their work cut out to catch Noren, who grabbed eight birdies as he continued his search for a third win of the season.

The 29-year-old from Stockholm led by two from overnight pacesetter Ross McGowan, who recovered from two early bogeys to add a 70 to his opening 64, with fellow Englishman Richard McEvoy and Scot Richie Ramsay - also round in 63 - one further back in joint third.

"It didn't feel that good on the range, but I found my swing early on," said Noren. "I kept fading it all day and holed a lot of putts. I played probably the best I've ever played on the front nine - I had a lot of chances."

Only 163rd on the European Tour money list and needing to climb into the top 115 to retain his card, McGowan hit back from his poor start with birdies at the fourth, eighth and 11th.

Colin Montgomerie and Jose Maria Olazabal, past and present Ryder Cup captains, were down on two over and four over respectively and both were likely to miss the halfway cut, although Montgomerie was only one outside the expected mark.

Former Open champion John Daly improved to one over with a 70 and, like the Scot, had to wait to discover his fate.

The Irish challenge was led overnight by Michael Hoey but a 74 meant he dropped back to one under and was overtaken by Damien McGrane, who carded a 70 to move to three under. Gareth Maybin fell to three over after a 73 and while Shane Lowry improved on yesterday's 78 with a 73, it was nowhere near enough to break into the weekend's action.

Peter Lawrie remained two over having played 12 holes in level par.