Argentine Vancsik takes command in Portugal

VILAMOURA, Portugal, Oct 20 (Reuters) Argentine Daniel Vancsik has a chance to make amends for his dramatic collapse in Madrid last week after snatching the second-round lead in the Portugal Masters.

A six-under-par 66 gave Vancsik a 14-under total of 130, two shots better than Martin Erlandsson of Sweden (68), Spain's Alvaro Quiros (66) and Britons Steve Webster (66) and Ross Fisher (64).

The 30-year-old Vancsik led last week's Madrid Open for the first three rounds but missed out on his second European Tour title of the year when he ran up a nine at the par-four fifth on the last day.

''It's been very difficult to forget hole number five last week,'' the Madeira Islands Open champion told reporters after rattling in seven birdies yesterday.

''But I told myself that last week I played perfect all week apart from one hole and that I can do it again this week.'' Vancsik, known for his booming drives, is likely to take a back seat to Quiros off the tee at the weekend.

''He's the longest,'' said the Argentine. ''I may have to think about my strategy and look for accuracy rather than power.'' The 24-year-old Quiros, in his rookie year, is battling back after missing half the year with a wrist injury.

''The hardest part about coming back is keeping (the ball) on the course,'' he said after grabbing eight birdies.

''I was six months out of tournament golf and concentration is difficult to keep.'' Britain's Justin Rose still has an outside chance of the second-place finish that will take him top of Europe's money-list after he shot a 70 for 139.

REUTERS BJR HS1321