Defending champion McKibbin six off the lead in Hamburg

A second round 71 has left champion Tom McKibbin half a dozen shots off the lead heading into the weekend at the European Open at Green Eagle Golf Courses in Germany.

McKibbin couldn’t quite match his opening round 69, where two-under par leaves him six shots adrift of clubhouse leader Laurie Canter.

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The 21-year-old split his four birdies equally between the front and back nine, with the only blot on his scorecard coming at the par-4 10th.

The Hollywood native was forced to take a drop shot after a wayward drive to the left off the tee. He found the rough to the right of the green, 20 yards from the flag, but required three more shots on his way to a double-bogey.

He finished for 71 and will start the third round in a a group of five players tied for fifth.

Canter is the player to catch, and has vowed to take an aggressive approach into his final 36 holes after opening up a three-shot lead.

The Englishman is a four-time runner-up on the DP World Tour but is still seeking his first win having featured sparingly on the Europe-based circuit in recent seasons following his move to LIV Golf.

He started day two in Hamburg four shots off the lead but carded a bogey-free 66 from the kinder side of the draw in the weather-affected tournament and is now hoping to take full advantage.

“There’s such a long way to go,” he said. “I’ve had leads before in tournaments and you can approach it one of two ways. I’m determined this weekend to go out and keep attacking the golf course as much as I can and play as well as I can. I don’t see any point in holding off.

“I think there is a low score in the 60s out there as the leader proved yesterday with a nine under, that was a phenomenal score but it shows it can be done so I think in the position I’m in, I’m going to try and keep my foot down.”

Dane Niklas Norgaard and first-round leader Jannik De Bruyn – who fought back to level par on the day after turning in 42 – were the nearest challengers.

A three-hour fog delay on day one and a three-hour flood delay on Friday left event organisers playing catch up, with England’s Garrick Porteous at seven under with four to play one of 20 players who did not complete round two on Friday.