Bradley Dredge leads in Denmark

Dredge leads by four shots (©GettyImages).

Welshman Bradley Dredge holds a four shot lead at the halfway stage of the Made in Denmark tournament.

Dredge was helped with three birdies during his last four holes as he goes in search of of his third win on the European Tour. He won in Madeira in 2003, shooting an incredible round of 60 on his way to victory, and he also won the Omega European Masters in '06.

However the 41-year old, who is playing on a medical exemption this season, has been struggling his injury and illness recently.

-8 after 36 holes

But after a second round of 68, adding to his opening round of 66, Dredge sits at eight under par at the Himmerland Resort & Spa.

Four birdies in his last six holes saw him to go four shots clear of England's Simon Wakefield with Danish duo Thomas Bjorn and Thorbjorn Olesen a shot further back alongside Garrick Porteous and Scotland's David Drysdale.

Bjorn could only card a two-over par 73 to go with his opening round of 66. The 43-year old is hoping to secure enough points for him to automatically qualify for a spot in the European team for the Ryder Cup at Gleneagles in next month.

Bjorn not again

But the Dane blamed his disappointing second round on tiredness after participating in a hectic schedule recently.

"It was down to fatigue a little bit, playing seven out of eight weeks," said Bjorn. "The brain wasn't quite with it today. You have to just take it for what it is. I'm still in the golf tournament and I have to work from here."

Bjorn also admitted that the players didn't have enough notice of the resumption of play after a short delay due to a threat of lightening.

"The delay shouldn't affect you, (but) I thought we were a bit quick to come back on though. You are sitting in the players' lounge and you get half an hour to restart and you are on the eighth tee, which is in a different county in this resort.

"I thought it was a bit quick so we got stressed about that. I had a bad drive on nine, but it was mostly down to putting today, which you can't blame that on the delay. You need to hole putts to be in contention and I couldn't do that today. If I can get it working and stay patient then it is still a good opportunity."

Wakefield return to form

Second placed Wakefield lost his Tour card at the end of last season but regained it via the qualifying school recently. The 40-year old is currently ranked 611th in the world and is looking for his first European Tour title victory in this his 334th attempt. He has an outside chance of achieving that after a second round of 67 to leave him on four-under par for the tournament.

Wakefield admitted he forgot that he tweaked the settings on his driver on Thursday but is pleased with the way he's playing this season.

"I was on holiday last week and on Sunday I tinkered with the driver, which was silly as it is probably the strongest club in my bag," said Wakefield.

"I changed the settings on it and on the 15th tee on Thursday I realised the settings were wrong, so when I got in I changed it and obviously drove it a lot better today.

"I feel like I've played well this season. I missed (the cut) in Munich by one, French (Open) by one and the others by three. So I feel like my game is there. The last two weeks off were what I needed to recharge the batteries. I certainly needed that."

Amateur champion Garrick Porteous is Wakefield's playing partner and the world number 1,160 carded a three-under par 68 to go with his even par opening round.

Large crowds

The first two days of the tournament has seen large crowds getting behind the home players. The majority decided to watch Olesen's group on Friday morning before switching to follow fellow Dane Bjorn's group in the afternoon.

Olesen believes that he can the use the excellent crowds to his advantage despite the added pressure it brings.

It's like playing a major championship out here, I've never seen anything like it," Olesen said. "It's just incredible and gave me a big boost. I just tried to keep on going and it was a great feeling to be out there in front of those crowds.

"Before the tournament I definitely felt a bit more pressure, but I try to deal with it in the best way and play my best golf. You feel pressure, but you also get that extra boost and confidence."