GRAEME STORM thinks he is well placed to record a strong finish at the Wales Open – provided he can maintain the standards set during the first two days.

After starting Friday on level par, Storm made progress up the leaderboard at Celtic Manor by making the most of a number of opportunities to post a second round two-under 69.

Storm, starting on the 11th, was steady for the most part and whenever he did drop a shot he recovered to stay under par.

It means he was comfortably under the cut mark and has an eye on the top ten in his bid to force his way in to the top 60 in the Race to Dubai rankings.

“I’m happy enough with how things went,” said Storm. “I lipped out on what was my 16th and missed a birdie chance on the 17th, so I could have done better than I did really.

“But I am happy with how I played and it’s just a case of going in to the weekend in the same frame of mind. I wasn’t doing too much wrong, so I just have to go out again and hopefully make a couple more opportunities count.”

The Hartlepool golfer started positively, stringing four pars in a row together before making a birdie at 15. He bogeyed the 16th but responded with a fine birdie at 18, which was almost a stunning eagle after a five-iron approach to the front of the green on the par five.

After recording his only other bogey of the round at the first when he followed up a drive in to the rough with an approach in to the greenside bunker, Storm was stead from there on in. Surrounded by pars for the remainder of the round, he birdied four and six. That ensured he can head in to Saturday on two-under.

Stephen Gallacher headed home in relaxed mood on Friday despite seeing his Ryder Cup preparations cut short with a missed cut.

Gallacher had not played competitively since coming agonisingly close to sealing an automatic place on the European team for Gleneagles before being named as one of captain Paul McGinley's three wild cards.

The rust showed as he struggled to an opening 78 on Thursday with seven bogeys and no birdies, and a second round of 70 was not enough to avoid an early exit.

"Yesterday was quite tough," Gallacher admitted after a round containing two birdies - both on par fives - and one bogey. "It was tough to get going and get my head around it but today was a lot better. I was maybe trying a wee bit too hard yesterday and still thinking about next week.

"Today I got into my routines better and stuck to that. Nothing could get into my head apart from that. It was back to normal and if I holed a few putts I would have shot four or five under.

"I feel good, I'm physically and mentally good so I am really looking forward to next week. I'll get up the road this afternoon and relax this weekend and maybe play nine holes with Thomas (Bjorn) on Monday morning."

Team-mate Bjorn, who played alongside Gallacher at Celtic Manor, added a 69 to his opening 71 to lie two under par, six shots off the clubhouse lead held by Holland's Joost Luiten.

Thailand's Thongchai Jaidee was a shot off the pace following a 67 with Sweden's Patrik Sjoland on six under after also shooting 67.

Luiten was considered for a wild card after finishing 15th in the points standings, one place above Lee Westwood who edged out Luke Donald for the final pick.

The 28-year-old finished fourth in the Italian Open and fifth in the defence of his KLM Open title last week and said: "If it had come a couple of weeks earlier I would have been right in there for a pick but I knew I had not played well enough for the last two and a half months of the qualifying."