Daniel van Tonder slipped into top gear on Friday with a second round of four-under-par 68 to reach the halfway mark in a share of 11th in the HotelPlanner Tour’s Rolex Grand Final at Club de Golf Alcanada in Port d’Alcúdia, Mallorca.

Van Tonder, who went into the season finale on the tour in 11th place on the Road to Mallorca rankings and all but assured of regaining his DP World Tour card, made just one birdie and dropped a shot on his front nine in the second round.

But then he switched gears to make five birdies on the back nine, dropping just a single shot on the par-four 12th, On five-under through halfway, he was three strokes behind the leaders. Lars van Meijel and Daniel Young shared a one-shot lead with Stefano Mazzoli, Félix Mory and Euan Walker on eight-under, one shot ahead of Scotland’s David Law.

Behind him, the HotelPlanner Tour’s number one, JC Ritchie had a second round of level-par 72 to stay at four-under. He was in a share of 14th with, amongst others, Jovan Rebula, who also carded a level-par 72 in the second round.

Ritchie is assured of his playing status on the DP World Tour, however, by virtue of his three victories this season. He does want to stay top of the rankings, while Rebula needs to push over the weekend to fight his way inside the top 20, which is how he can gain his DP World Tour card.

Wilco Nienaber’s chances of gaining his playing rights on the main tour have all but evaporated after he signed for a second round of seven-over 79. That put him in a share of 44th in the 45-man field, and gives him virtually no chance of climbing from his current 29th place on the rankings.