England’s Dale Whitnell carded a stunning second round of 61 to open up a commanding six-shot lead at the halfway stage of the Volvo Car Scandinavian Mixed in Stockholm.

Whitnell fired six birdies in his first eight holes and started the back nine at Ullna Golf and Country Club with three more in succession from the 10th.

A 10th birdie of the day on the 15th left the 34-year-old needing to play the last three holes in three under to card the second 59 in DP World Tour history, but he could only par 16 and 17 before making a birdie on the last.

Whitnell, who holed out from 96 yards for an eagle with his last shot of day one’s opening 66, said: “It was pretty good today.

“Obviously yesterday was nice, I had a bit of momentum after holing my last shot and I took it into today.

“I played nicely, hit the right shots at the right time, took my medicine if I needed to if I wasn’t in the right positions and holed a few putts which helped.

“I tried to stay in the present, it’s obviously harder to do that than what it actually is but I just tried to take one shot at a time and it worked well today.”

At 17 under par, Whitnell held a six-shot lead over Germany’s Ryder Cup hopeful Yannik Paul, with Scotland’s Richie Ramsay another shot back after a bogey-free 66.

England’s Alice Hewson and France’s Emma Grechi were the leading female players on five under par in the unique event which sees 78 men and 78 women compete on the same course for one prize fund and one trophy.

Defending champion Linn Grant, who recorded a stunning nine-shot victory 12 months ago in Halmstad, added a 69 to her opening 72 to lie three under.