Glenn Joyner put the battling qualities that helped him last month to earn a card on the European Senior Tour to good use yesterday, when he opened a valuable, three-stroke lead in the Bermuda Open.

After the entire field was blown around the course at Port Royal Golf Club like a rag doll 24 hours earlier, better conditions awaited the golfers.

But Joyner was the only one to make serious inroads, shooting a creditable two-under-par 69 that left him at two-over 144 for the tournament and clear, having broken a tie for the overnight lead that he had shared with Gordon Brand Jr and Bermuda’s Michael Sims.

Brand slipped down the field and eight strokes behind after a 77 yesterday, but Sims showed improvement of his own in a round of 72 left him joint second with Justin Reiger, of the United States.

Reiger had the day’s second-best round, a 71, but the day truly belonged to the man from Yarra Yarra, in Victoria, Australia.

Joyner’s card contained six birdies, two bogeys and a double bogey.

Four of the birdies arrived on a blistering front nine, which he completed in three under, the highlight being a 30-foot putt for birdie on the par-three 3rd hole that gave his round momentum.

Not even a double-bogey five at the 13th could derail the Victorian’s charge, as he rolled in back-to-back birdies at the 15th and 16th holes to keep the pressure on the chasing pack.

“I was quite happy with my form today,” the 49-year-old said after completing the only round below par at the halfway stage of the tournament. “It was good fun.”

Joyner will now look to consolidate his place atop the leaderboard over the final 36 holes. “There is obviously a lot of golf left, so we will see what the elements throw at us and keep having fun,” he said. “It has been great so far, so I am looking forward to the rest of the week.”

Sims may have fallen slightly off the pace, but he should not be too disappointed, given that his was a three-stroke improvement on Monday.

The Georgia-based Bermudian had three birdies and four bogeys, while Reiger carded three birdies and as many bogeys in his round.

Seven shots off the lead is Dwayne Pearman, the former champion and Port Royal head professional, after a 73 that included a birdie and three bogeys.

Brand’s heyday included being a member of the Europe Ryder Cup team that beat the US on American soil for the first time in 1987 and finishing fifth in the Open Championship at Royal Birkdale six years later. How he would have loved a sprinkling of that magic dust in Southampton yesterday.

Instead, the Scot arrived at the 12th tee seven over for the day and in danger of being totally cast adrift. But he steadied the ship with three birdies coming in — at the 12th, 15th and 17th — although bogey at the last would have left a sour taste.

In the amateur division, Jarryd Dillas stretched his lead to six strokes after a respectable 76 took him to 156 for the tournament.

With two birdies, five bogeys and a double, at the 18th, he leads Shannon Trott.

Jevon Roberts, the 2013 winner, found the improvement he needed after a 90 on Monday, but a round of 80 leaves him fourth and 14 shots off the lead. “It is good to play better than I did yesterday,” he said.

“I started off strong and finished strong, but there were just a few holes in the middle of the round that made it a little higher than it should have been.”