Eduardo Romero vaults into lead with 62

Argentina's Eduardo Romero made light of his 50 years to capture the French Open second-round lead with a course record, nine-under-par 62 on Friday.

Romero will comfortably become the European Tour's oldest winner if he maintains the flawless form that took him two shots ahead of the field. He hit nine birdies after playing 27 holes in one day at the storm-affected event.

First-round leader Jean Van de Velde (70) of France shared second position with Dane Soren Hansen (69) and Britain's Jonathan Lomas (69) on eight-under 134.

Francois Delamontagne of France and Swede Martin Erlandsson were a further shot adrift on 135.

With his 51st birthday coming up on July 17, Romero put himself in prime position to win the tournament nearly three years older than Irishman Des Smyth was when he won the 2001 Madeira Island Open.

The Argentine landed the 2002 Scottish Open when only three days away from his 48th birthday and if he can clinch the French title 14 years after he won at the same National course, Romero would enjoy several other bonuses.

First prize of $714,000 is the richest in continental Europe, he would gain a two-year tour exemption from the end of this season and would automatically qualify for the British Open by way of a place on the major's mini order of merit.

Romero can even finish second in France and bypass 36 holes of British Open qualification at Sunningdale, England, on Monday.

"I managed to qualify last year at Sunningdale in a playoff but it's another year on now and it might be too much for me," he told reporters. "So I want to win here."

Friday's round, in which a 40-foot putt lipped out on the final hole to deny him a European career-best, represented a complete change in fortunes for the Argentine veteran who had missed five cuts in six starts this year.

Romero put the reason for such a dramatic change down to yoga and his ability to cope with high humidity in Versailles after losing six kilos in weight.

"I didn't do yoga for three or four months but I came back to it three weeks ago and it has made a big difference mentally," he said.

Van de Velde, making his fourth attempt at a comeback after two reconstructive operations on his right knee, had to wait until mid-afternoon before defending his lead because of the previous day's thunderstorm which halted play early.

The Frenchman battled hard to avoid flagging at the end of his round.

He said: "It was a never-ending day. I was running out of steam."

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