Almost two years ago to the day, Miles Tunnicliff produced one of the most emotional victories ever witnessed on The European Tour when he claimed the 2002 Great North Open at Slaley Hall and the Englishman gave himself the ideal chance for another success when he moved into a commanding lead at the halfway stage of the Diageo Championship at Gleneagles.
The 35 year old made a mockery of the demanding windy conditions on the PGA Centenary Course with a second round 68 to add to his opening 67 for a nine under par total of 135 and a five shot lead over Northern Ireland’s Graeme McDowell and Nick O’Hern of Australia.
In June 2002 at Slaley Hall, there was not a dry eye in the house as Tunnicliff kept the promise he had made to his inspirational mother Pam, who passed away a fortnight beforehand, that he would win his maiden title on The European Tour and he admitted that the same sense of serene calm which had helped him in the north of England then, was apparent again in his game in the heart of Scotland.
“Someone was looking down on me that week and I hope she is looking down on me again this weekend,” said Tunnicliff. “I felt quite calm when I was winning that one and I have been very relaxed these two days. I feel pretty confident especially if I can carry on the way I’ve been playing.”
The statistics bore out that fact, for while the majority of the field battled against the gusting winds around the venue for The 2014 Ryder Cup Matches, Tunnicliff at times appeared to playing in another event such was the apparent ease with which he picked off birdie after birdie.
Starting on the back nine, he reached the ‘turn’ in 35 before pulling away from the chasing pack on the front nine. A pitch to two feet brought his first birdie at the second, a superb four iron to four feet at the third yielded another, before his flawless nine holes was completed with a 25 foot putt for birdie three at the eighth.
Before Tunnicliff’s intervention, the clubhouse lead for a long spell had been held by McDowell, who carded a 71 for a four under par total of 140, and who was delighted he had made the right decision in opting not to travel to America to attempt to qualify for the US Open Championship.
The winner of the 61st Telecom Italia Open last month also admitted he was enjoying playing in the wind again, harking back to his formative years growing up on the links of Portrush, and a part of his game which had been neglected during his time spent at college in the United States.
“It is nice to remember how to play in the wind again,” said McDowell. “I spent a lot of time in America and my wind game was lost a little bit out there, but that is the beauty of Europe, you have to be able to play in all sorts of conditions, and it is the nature of The European Tour that makes us very rounded players.”
McDowell had a rollercoaster day in keeping with the gusting winds, posting two bogeys and a double bogey six at the first after taking two shots to escape a greenside bunker, but making up for those errors with five birdies.
The Ulsterman was joined in the pursuit of Tunnicliff by left-hander Nick O’Hern, the Australian also coping well with the afternoon conditions to post a 73 for his total of 140.
Highlight of the day for the Australian who is looking for his maiden victory on The European Tour, came at the short tenth where he holed a monstrous 40 foot putt for a birdie two.
“The conditions were pretty tough out there especially on the greens because the wind was really affecting the read on a lot of the putts,” he said. “I had a lot of putts today where you would normally allow for a left to right break but because of the wind you were hitting it right to left.”
Further down the leaderboard, three players shared fourth place on three under par 141, David Howell, Paul McGinley and Henrik Stenson, the best round of three coming from Howell who completed a remarkable recovery considering he was five over par after the first five holes of his opening round.
At the end of the day the cut fell at four over par 148, meaning that 76 players will contest the final two rounds.
