Thongchai JaideeEugene Hoshiko/The Associated Press
NEWPORT - Englishman Ross Fisher took a two-stroke lead at the Wales Open Friday after shooting a 5-under par 66 in the second round at Celtic Manor.
Overnight leader Lee Slattery of England could only manage a level par round of 72 to remain at 4 under on 138 in second.
Fabrizio Zanotti of Paraguay holds a share of third place after shooting a 69 along with Thailand's Thongchai Jaidee (68) and England's Chris Wood (67).
The 31-year-old Fisher said that he was inspired by his return to the Twenty Ten course, where he was a part of Europe's 2010 Ryder Cup victory over the United States.
"I played really good golf that week and thoroughly enjoyed it," said Fisher. "You do try to feed upon those memories to form a positive outcome for the week. There are certain spots where you think the pin was there in the Ryder Cup, or I hit that shot from here."
And he didn't rule himself out of the reckoning to make a last minute place on the Ryder Cup side this year, but admitted it would be hard.
"Once you've played one, you don't want to miss one," said Fisher. "I need a big finish here and hopefully a big summer and we'll just have to wait and see."
Slattery made five bogies as he struggled to stay in touch with the top of the leaderboard.
"It was one of those battling days," said Slattery. "You are rarely going to play four rounds of golf perfectly. When I won last year in Madrid I didn't play particularly well on the Saturday so hopefully today is that day here."
European Ryder Cup captain Jose Maria Olazabal missed the cut set at five over, shooting a 75 to finish on 9 over for the tournament.
Olazabal's frustration was evident when he handed his driver to a young boy in the crowd after hitting his tee shot on the 18th into thick rough.
Olazabal's playing partner, 1999 British Open winner Paul Lawrie, enjoyed a more successful day, shooting a 2 under 69 to move to 1 over.
Italy's Edoardo Molinari (71) and Sweden's Anders Hansen (72) also missed the cut, as did 2005 U.S. Open winner Michael Campbell (75).