Adrian Otaegui and Peter Uihlein Share Lead at Midpoint of 2017 Open de France

Adrian Otaegui and Peter Uihlein share the lead at the halfway point of the 2017 Open De France after a rain-affected day at Le Golf National in Paris.

Otaegui backed up a solid opening day with a five-under-par round of 66 on Friday, surging to the top of the leaderboard in the morning. Late in the day, Uihlein moved one shot clear after a run of three consecutive birdies, but he finished the day with his second consecutive 67 to finish on eight-under.

Tommy Fleetwood and Alexander Bjork are just a shot back on the duo. Overnight leader Paul Waring had a disappointing day, although he's just two shots off the lead.

Read on for the leaderboard at the end of Day 2 and a reminder of how the action played out in France.

Day 2 Recap

These are the standings at the midpoint of the competition, per the European Tour Twitter feed:

As the dark clouds engulfed this circuit later in the day, Otaegui would have been delighted after posting a brilliant score in the morning.

The Spaniard was out early on and made the most of the best conditions of the day. Despite an early bogey, his confidence was unmoved, as birdies at the sixth, ninth and the 10th illustrated. He then surged through the gears in spectacular style with three birdies in a row from the 14th.

Jan Kruger/Getty Images

It was enough to put the Spaniard clear for most of the day and those in the chase had their round interrupted as the heavens opened. As we can see here, the conditions were not desirable for low scoring:

When play did resume in the evening it was Uihlein who made the most significant move. Despite the disruptions, the American was able to play steady golf throughout the day, making birdies at the third and the ninth.

From the 13th he made three in a row, moving onto nine-under par overall and into the outright lead. But a blemish at 17 meant Uihlein had to make do with back-to-back 67s and a share of top spot.

Jan Kruger/Getty Images

After a strong performance at the recent U.S. Open, Fleetwood is undoubtedly a man to keep an eye on in France. As noted below, his approach play at the moment is really in terrific order:

The man who he’ll be playing with on Saturday, Bjork, is also a danger to the leaders. At one stage he was leading the way, although bogeys at the first and the eighth set him back.

Some big names aren’t out of contention either. World No. 8 Alex Noren is six shots back, while world No. 11 Jon Rahm is just five short. The latter said he’s in a confident mood to attack the course over the weekend too:

One of the biggest names to miss the cut was Tyrrell Hatton, who offered no excuses for his performance on Twitter afterwards:

Thomas Pieters, is just three back having scrapped to a 71, the highlight of which was a remarkable birdie at the third hole. The Belgian has the temperament to be a force to finish the tournament if he can cut out some of the routine errors that hindered him on Friday.