Carter sets the pace in Zandvoort

Carter won the Irish Open in 1998 and lifted the World Cup with Nick Faldo in New Zealand later the same year, but has not finished inside the top 75 on the Order of Merit since 1999.

The Gothenburg-based 35-year-old had to return to the qualifying school in 2003 and finished 27th in the final event of last season to keep his card by less than £2,700.

He faces another battle this year, currently occupying a lowly 186th on the money list with only the top 115 guaranteed to keep their playing rights for 2008, but a second consecutive 65 today gave him a halfway total of 10 under par and a two-shot lead over New Zealand's Steve Alker and Holland's Joost Luiten.

"It's great to be leading, this is what we play the game for," Carter said. "Of course I'm going to be nervous tomorrow but I'm nervous every time I play and that's a good thing.

"I'm just going to keep doing what I'm doing and enjoy it - after all, how many times have I led a tournament in my career? It's not many."

As for the pressure of trying to keep his card for next season, Carter added: "I try to think of it more as a challenge. It's not a train smash, it's part of the job.

"It's not nice to be 186th on the money list and be trying to secure your job for next year but I can't run away from it, I have to deal with it. All I can do is play good golf and that will take care of it.

"I think Loch Lomond this year was really when I was thinking 'What am I doing?' I'd missed four cuts in a row and then had to pull out 15 minutes before my tee time because my back went into spasm.

"When you're in that deep, dark hole you don't know how you're going to get out. It's tough to believe in yourself at the time."

Former US Open champion Michael Campbell was just three off the lead until a triple-bogey six on the par-three eighth, his 17th hole of the day, forced him to settle for a 71 and four-under total.

American Ryder Cup player Chris Riley was a shot better off on five under despite dropping four shots in his last five holes.

Riley, best remembered for complaining he was "really tired" at Oakland Hills in 2004 and sitting out the afternoon foursomes after partnering Tiger Woods to victory in the morning, shared the lead after 12 holes but ran up a triple-bogey seven on the fifth and bogeyed the seventh in his 69.