The 33-year-old led by four at the start of the day after a ten under par opening round, but his lead was cut in half by the chasing pack, with 2017 Portugal Masters champion Lucas Bjerregaard moving to ten under par after a six under round of 65.
It was another day of low scoring in the Algarve as Matthieu Pavon of France and 2016 Ryder Cup player Thomas Pieters carded matching seven under par 64s to join Bjerregaard and Adri Arnaus of Spain in a share of second.
Callum Shinkwin, who won his first European Tour title last November at the Aphrodite Hills Cyprus Open, carded a five under par 66 to take solo sixth place on nine under, one stroke ahead of compatriot Sam Horsfield.
Player Quotes
Nino Bertasio: “I couldn’t expect anything similar to yesterday. A solid day. I didn’t make many putts, the greens were a bit bumpy towards the end. I made three birdies and they were basically inside two feet. I didn’t make much out there, but I’ll take it.
“It was (challenging to stay present), I’m not going to lie. So many messages and a lot on social media. A good second round and with tomorrow it’s basically a new tournament, so I’m going to enjoy it.”
Adri Arnaus: “It’s a really good day when you don’t drop any shots and have no bogeys on the card. I managed to save a few good pars but took advantage of the opportunities. I thought today wasn’t so easy because the pins were quite tucked. We stuck to our gameplan and we played well.”
Lucas Bjerregaard: “There was a little less wind this morning. Greens were perfect when we started, so that was nice. I took advantage of that and made a few putts. The wind has changed a bit during the day, it’s probably playing a little easier than yesterday.
“The greens are slick. If you get some of those downhill they go quick, but they are so pure and really nice to putt on. I’ve had the speed down pretty well, so that has been nice.”
Matthieu Pavon: “I played solid. I struggled a bit off the tee early today, but nothing destructive. I had shots to the green, so I just waited for opportunities and dropped some pretty early. That brought my confidence level high and I just tried to follow my game plan for the 18 holes.”
Thomas Pieters: “I started lovely with a nice eagle at the second – I never saw it go in. It’s always nice when you get a start like that and then keep building. I putted well, even on the back nine where the greens were pretty rough. But I managed to roll some in, it was a good day.
“It’s been very up and down today. But it’s so lovely being able to play with little wind today. I felt like it’s been ages since I had a round with nice weather, a good golf course and no wind. It was nice to hit greens, hit it close and not have to think so much.”
Scores after Round Two
130 N BERTASIO (ITA) 61 69,
132 A ARNAUS (ESP) 65 67, L BJERREGAARD (DEN) 67 65, M PAVON (FRA) 68 64, T PIETERS (BEL) 68 64,
133 C SHINKWIN (ENG) 67 66,
134 S HORSFIELD (ENG) 68 66,
135 O WILSON (ENG) 68 67, R BLAND (ENG) 70 65, G FORREST (SCO) 68 67, G GREEN (MAS) 66 69,
136 B HEBERT (FRA) 67 69, K BROBERG (SWE) 69 67, J HANSEN (DEN) 69 67, M LEE (AUS) 68 68, N H?JGAARD (DEN) 67 69, T PULKKANEN (FIN) 69 67, F LAPORTA (ITA) 70 66,
137 M ARMITAGE (ENG) 68 69, A BJ?RK (SWE) 71 66, S GALLACHER (SCO) 69 68, S CROCKER (USA) 70 67, P ANGLES (ESP) 68 69,
138 R FISHER (ENG) 71 67, J SENIOR (ENG) 71 67, M JORDAN (ENG) 70 68, D HORSEY (ENG) 70 68, A LEVY (FRA) 69 69, R H?JGAARD (DEN) 67 71,
139 R LANGASQUE (FRA) 71 68, S BROWN (ENG) 68 71, A ROZNER (FRA) 70 69, R SANTOS (POR) 70 69, R RAMSAY (SCO) 70 69, P HARRINGTON (IRL) 67 72, J SMITH (ENG) 72 67,
140 J DONALDSON (WAL) 73 67, K SAMOOJA (FIN) 68 72, J CATLIN (USA) 70 70, A JOHNSTON (ENG) 72 68, V PEREZ (FRA) 72 68, P HANSON (SWE) 71 69, J CALDWELL (NIR) 69 71, C WOOD (ENG) 71 69, R MACINTYRE (SCO) 70 70, N LEMKE (SWE) 72 68, V LOPES (POR) 71 69, T GOUVEIA (POR) 71 69,
141 A CHESTERS (ENG) 75 66, A SULLIVAN (ENG) 70 71, P LARRAZ?BAL (ESP) 70 71, T OLESEN (DEN) 72 69, M KIEFFER (GER) 70 71, J WALTERS (RSA) 71 70, E MOLINARI (ITA) 72 69, G COETZEE (RSA) 70 71, M WARREN (SCO) 74 67, F ZANOTTI (PAR) 69 72,
142 W BESSELING (NED) 68 74, J JANEWATTANANOND (THA) 70 72, N COLSAERTS (BEL) 69 73, S JAMIESON (SCO) 71 71, M KORHONEN (FIN) 68 74, N ELVIRA (ESP) 72 70, D LAW (SCO) 68 74,
143 G STORM (ENG) 74 69, R ROCK (ENG) 73 70, O FISHER (ENG) 70 73, A OTAEGUI (ESP) 72 71, L CANTER (ENG) 70 73, R ROUSSEL (FRA) 73 70, R MCEVOY (ENG) 73 70, J SURI (USA) 71 72,
144 P FIGUEIREDO (POR) 71 73, J LUITEN (NED) 72 72, J SINGH BRAR (ENG) 72 72, O FARR (WAL) 74 70, R PARATORE (ITA) 72 72, M LORENZO-VERA (FRA) 70 74, D GAVINS (ENG) 72 72,
145 C SYME (SCO) 73 72, S V?LIM?KI (FIN) 70 75, D DRYSDALE (SCO) 72 73, C PAISLEY (ENG) 71 74, J LIMA (POR) 72 73,
146 R JACQUELIN (FRA) 71 75, M KINHULT (SWE) 72 74, J GUERRIER (FRA) 74 72,
147 A QUIROS (ESP) 73 74, S GARCIA RODRIGUEZ (ESP) 74 73,
148 H PORTEOUS (RSA) 75 73, J CAMPILLO (ESP) 79 69, M WALLACE (ENG) 72 76, J STALTER (FRA) 76 72, J DU PREEZ (RSA) 72 76, C SHARVIN (NIR) 76 72,
149 E PEPPERELL (ENG) 73 76,
150 T BJ?RN (DEN) 73 77, S SODERBERG (SWE) 76 74,
151 Z LOMBARD (RSA) 73 78, L GAGLI (ITA) 76 75,
152 D HOWELL (ENG) 75 77, S HEND (AUS) 75 77,
162 P CLARE NEVES (AM) (POR) 78 84,
