Friday July 30, 2010, 08:19 PM

England's Ross Fisher seized control of the Irish Open in the second round on Friday as he narrowly missed out on the European Tour's first ever 59.

Fisher hit six successive birdies in a front nine 29 before four consecutive birdies from the 11th left the 29-year-old needing just two more over the closing stretch to smash the European record.

But Fisher missed from six feet at the 15th, could only par the 519-yard next and closed with two more pars for a 10-under-par 61.

The World Match Play champion's superb round took him to 12 under par at halfway, and with the lowest round of his Tour career under his belt he led the tournament by three shots from Italian Francesco Molinari, who shot a five-under 66.

Fisher admitted he was frustrated to miss a golden opportunity to put his name in the record books, but he was still delighted with such a low score.

"Not until I got onto the 14th did I think, 'If I knock this in I've got a chance', so I was a bit annoyed when I missed the putt on 15 and after the 16th I thought I've got to do it the hard way," he said.

"It didn't happen, but I'll take 61. It's been coming for a while -- that's as good as I've putted since the Match Play and that's all I've been struggling with.

"It's been a frustrating year. The Ryder Cup was one of the goals I set myself and I want to be on that team.

"I want Monty (Ryder Cup captain Colin Montgomerie) to be looking at me and if I still need a (wild card) pick at the end, then hopefully I will be one of the fortunate ones."

Molinari hit six birdies to match Fisher's outward 29 but dropped shots at 11 and 13 before picking one up at the 18th.

"I didn't realise I had shot 29 on the front nine until I was in the recording," said Molinari.

"It was very good. I was hitting the ball very well and putting well and everything went the right way."

Spain's Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano bogeyed the last two holes to drop from second into a nine-way tie in third on the leaderboard at seven under par.

He was level with Padraig Harrington, Michael Hoey, David Dixon, Anders Hansen, Australians Brett Rumford and Richard Green, Korean teenager Noh Seung-yul and Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy.

"It was quite frustrating to be honest," said McIlroy, who carded an up-and-down 68, featuring six birdies and three bogeys.

"It seemed like every time I made a birdie, I made a bogey and it sort of halted me in my tracks.

"I'm only five back going into tomorrow. If I get off to a fast start, hopefully I can close the gap on Ross a little bit."

Overnight leader David Howell fared less well as he double-bogeyed the first and 10th to slip from seven under to three under with a 75.

"I played rubbish -- as bad as I was good yesterday," he said. "I got off to the worst start and just swung the club poorly.

"I just didn't know where it was going to go and it was a case of hanging on, which I did.

"It could have been worse, to be honest, and I've got two nice days now to crack on and finish high up."

© 2010 AFP/sid