GRAEME STORM is three shots off the lead at the halfway stage of the BMW International Open in Munich - and it should have been much better.

Storm made eight birdies during his second round in Germany to stay in contention with leaders Henrik Stenson and George Coetzee.

Yet Storm could have been higher had he not bogeyed the second, 15th and 17th to post a second-round 67, five under.

Nevertheless, such an impressive display from the Hartlepool golfer, coupled with Thursday's solid 70, has left him tied ninth going into the weekend.

There were also two solid days from Barnard Castle's Rob Dinwiddie. He missed the cut at his second US Open last weekend but is on four under here after back-to-back 70s.

Harrogate's John Parry also made the cut after consecutive 71s left him tied 57th on two under for the tournament.

Simon Dyson and Kenneth Ferrie fell below the mark.

Sweden's Stenson and South African Coetzee arrived on ten under par by very different routes.

Stenson bogeyed his last two holes for a 70, six worse than his first day score, while Coetzee birdied two of his last three for a second successive 67.

‘‘It's never fun to finish with two bogeys but you gain some, you lose some - sometimes that's the way it is,'' said Stenson.

The former world number four, now down at 124th after more than two years without a win, had been three clear of the field when he followed a chip-in eagle on the long sixth with a tap-in birdie at the 441-yard next.