GOING STRONG: Doak
Agencies/Castle Stuart
A second straight round of 66 saw Chris Doak take the clubhouse lead on home soil at the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open.
The 35 year old Scot, with only one top-ten finish to his name on The European Tour, carded five birdies, a bogey, and an eagle at the long 12th to lead by one on 12 under par.
Doak lost his card at the end of his only previous season on The European Tour in 2009, but regained it by finishing tenth on the Challenge Tour last year.
“The first time around I was still wet behind the ears but the Challenge Tour definitely taught me how to play four rounds and handle the travel,” the Glaswegian said. “It’s a tough environment because there are a lot of great players out there and you need to be consistent because there is not as much money. “But anything that’s worth learning takes time and hopefully it’s coming together now. It’s fantastic to shoot 66 and follow it up with another one and I’m really pleased.”
American Peter Uihlein is second on 11 under after recovering superbly from an early double bogey.
The recent Madeira Islands Open winner took four shots more than Doak at the 12th, his third, but overcame having a seven on his card with eight birdies – six of them in an inward 30 – to sign for a 66 and 11 under halfway total.
Sweden’s Henrik Stenson produced the best score of the morning session with a 64 to lie third on ten under, but Open Champion looked set to miss the halfway cut on two under a week before defending his title at Muirfield.
“I’m very pleased with the score but still feel like I left a few chances out there,” Stenson said.
“I three-putted the 18th for par and the putt on nine was more in the hole than a few that I made but somehow lipped out. That would have been the icing on the cake.
“I’ve just had two weeks off and been busy with other stuff so am still a bit rusty but I have another two rounds to work on it.”
English pair Matthew Southgate and James Morrison were the main threats to Doak’s dominance in the afternoon session; the pair reaching ten under after 11 and seven holes respectively.
On Thurday, Four-time Major winning Phil Mickelson warmed-up for a hopeful double Scotland victory celebration with a sizzling six under par 66.
Mickelson started with a bogey but then eagled the third hole of his round along with adding six birdies and one bogey. It left the current world number eight, who is contesting the Scottish Open for a ninth occasion ahead of next week’s British Open at Muirfield, sharing third place and just two shots behind England’s John Parry who enjoys the lead after signing for an eight under par 64. England’s Simon Khan is in second place with a 65 while Mickelson shares third spot with six others and on a day when there was 33 eagles and 648 birdies.
“The challenge today for me was to remain patient on this course because the great thing about Castle Stuart is there is a number of easy birdie holes and a number of hard par four holes, so if you are patient on those more difficult holes you will have birdies as the round progresses,” said Mickelson. “Castle Stuart is also just a perfect set-up for next week because it gives you a chance to hit all the shots we will have to hit next week, and play those bump-and-run shots into the green but not get beat up the week before the Open.
“You can only handle so much punishment the week of The Open where the rough is so thick and the penalty for missing the fairways is so severe that it’s nice to have a week where you don’t get punished but then you are still hitting the same shots.”