AFTER two impressive opening rounds at the Wales Open, Graeme Storm is in touch with the leading pack and has his sights set on a European Tour card by close of play tomorrow night.

The Hartlepool golfer, after a decent run of form in the past couple of months, has posted two sub-zero rounds at Celtic Manor and lies just outside the top ten on six under par.

Storm followed up Thursday's 65, four-under, with a 67 yesterday to retain his strong placing on the leaderboard and has raised hopes of a lucrative top-20 finish in the £1.5m tournament.

If a decent-sized cheque returns to the North-East with him from south Wales then, added to more than £100,000 of earnings from the season to date, the 28-year-old would know his place on the Tour is secure for another year.

"I have a couple of big days coming up and I know that," said Storm. "I would like to finish inside the top-20 and that would ensure a nice little earner for the week here.

"If I can do that then that will be me done and dusted in terms of my aim to get my card by the end of June. If I can have a nice weekend and finish even higher, then fine, but that's my only aim at the moment."

If his first two rounds are anything to go by then Storm could find himself sitting closer to the top spot than he is contemplating, particularly if he can reproduce the form he is showing on the back nine a little earlier in the rounds.

In both rounds so far he has been flawless after the turn, carding five birdies on Thursday and a further three yesterday without a single blemish.

The front nine has been different. Three birdies have been let down by five bogeys over the course of the last 36 holes, otherwise he could have been even closer to Swedish leader Robert Karlsson.

"I just think the back nine suits my game more," said Storm. "That's all it is. I don't think it's got that much to do with how I'm playing, it's more the course.

"I have struggled in the opening parts of the round but then I have settled and really enjoyed myself on the course. I would like to think I can really force myself up the leaderboard but that's also in the hands of others.

"Leaders can fall away but Robert Karlsson does look to be in good shape and he seems to be getting better."

Colin Montgomerie admitted ''I blew it'' after squandering a stunning start to his second round.

Montgomerie was five under after seven holes on a Roman Road course which has already yielded one score of 60 and two 61s so far this week.

But the eight-time European number one then bogeyed three of his next eight holes and was forced to settle for a 66 and nine-under-par halfway total of 129.

That left the 42-year-old Scot five shots behind Karlsson and hugely frustrated.

''I'm very disappointed,'' said Montgomerie, who has never won a tournament in Wales.

''Five under after seven was a great start and I blew it really to only finish three under from there.

''I had a perfect chance to go forward and open a gap but I have come back to the pack.

''The last month my game has been 50 per cent and it's now 70 per cent, so it's going in the right direction at least, but it's not there yet, nowhere near.

''All I can do is try to improve and I am, but not fast enough. I'm very impatient, like most people. I'm hitting the fairways okay but my chipping and putting is not as good as it should be.'' Montgomerie was particularly frustrated by his bogey on the par-five 16th, a 529-yard par-five easily within reach for the majority of the field.

''I'm very disappointed, especially with 16,'' he added. ''Everyone on the leaderboard is making birdie there and I made bogey, so there's two or three shots gone. I got an unlucky lie in the bunker and made a mess of it from there.'' Karlsson got off to a near-identical start to Montgomerie and was also five under after seven, but also matched the Scot's bogey on the eighth and carded just two birdies and one bogey on the back nine.

The Monaco-based 36-year-old has not won on the European Tour since his fifth tournament victory in 2002, but ended the day four shots clear of first-round pacesetter Phillip Archer, Paul Broadhurst and Simon Dyson.

Karlsson retained his card in 2004 by just £9 after finishing 116th on the Order of Merit.