MADRID: South African Charl Schwartzel, who was on the verge of withdrawing from the Madrid Masters on Friday, carded a flawless seven-under 64 for a share the second round lead with Australia’s Marcus Fraser.

The pair drew two shots ahead of the field, with Fraser setting the nine-under 133 target with an eight-birdie 66. Britain’s Robert Rock (65) and Swede Steven Jeppesen (67) share third place on seven-under.

Schwartzel’s eagle and five birdies were an unexpected return after he decided to soldier on with a painful shoulder blade in Madrid, where last year he claimed his second tour title, the Spanish Open.

While Schwartzel cited a return to a normal putting stroke — again with consultation with his father George — for his form improvement, co-leader Fraser said he felt comfortable with the Club de Campo Villa de Madrid course.

Spain’s twice Masters champion Jose Maria Olazabal came through his first test on the road to rehabilitation by making the cut, nine strokes behind the leaders after a level-par 72 left him level-par for the tournament.

After three months away from golf suffering severe fatigue caused by medication for rheumatism, Olazabal’s driving was way-ward.

Federico Cabrera, 19-year-old son of the 2007 US Open champion Angel, out scored his father, shooting a seven-birdie 68 to Angel’s 69. But while Cabrera senior lies two-under and still in with a victory chance, his son will spend the weekend practising for his second European Tour event, next week’s Portugal Masters, after missing the cut.