BLACKWOOD'S Bradley Dredge moved into the driving seat in the hunt for a third European Tour title after carding a second successive five under par 66 to move one shot clear at the midway point of the M2M Russian Open.

The 42-year-old’s faultless second round got off to the perfect start when he birdied the tenth, his first, before back to back birdies at the 12th and 13th meant he picked up three shots in his opening four holes.

He followed that up with further birdies at the 18th and the third to move to a ten under total, one shot clear of Englishman Lee Slattery – who struggled with dehydration and faintness throughout his round but still managed a four under 67 for a nine under total.

Daniel Gaunt was a shot further behind on eight under par after the Australian registered a two under par 69, while Argentina’s Estanislao Goya, Spaniard Pablo Martin Benavides and Englishman Ben Evans were all tied for fourth place on seven under heading into the weekend.

Meanwhile, Andrey Pavlov made history at Skolkovo Golf Club as he became the first Russian to make the cut at a European Tour event, a two under par 69 taking him to level par for the tournament to make it on the mark.

Dredge said: “I’m delighted, back to back 66s and no dropped shots so I’m very pleased with that. The pin positions are the course's main defence and they were quite tough today, you had to be careful going into the greens.

“I found the greens to be absolutely perfect today, I got the speed and got the lines spot on and I putted great today. If I could get two more rounds of 66 that would be tough to beat but it’s only halfway through. I’m in a great position but a long way to go.

“For me the highlight has been the putting, I’ve been putting really well. If I can keep that going and improve my iron play a little bit then that’ll be good for the weekend.”