Everything you need to know from the second round at the Nexo Championship.
Southgate leads the way
Matthew Southgate underlined his reputation as a links specialist to withstand sustained winds at Trump International Golf Links and claim a one-shot halfway lead. The Englishman carded a second consecutive 70, featuring a chip-in eagle late in his second round, to claim the solo lead at four under. His countryman Matthew Jordan, runner-up last week in Denmark, home hope Scott Jamieson, Sweden's first-round leader Marcus Kinhult and South Africa's Shaun Norris are a shot further back.
Report - Matthew Southgate holds halfway Nexo Championship lead at windy Trump International Golf Links
A punishing examination
On another day of testing conditions, scoring proved tough over the Martin Hawtree-designed Old Course in Aberdeenshire with Scottish duo Connor Syme and Martin Laird the only players to be bogey free on Friday. Nine shots separate the leader and those who made the cut at five over, the highest mark so far this season on the DP World Tour. Through the opening two days, 12 of the holes are playing over par. The 500-yard par four eighth is proving the hardest hole, with as many as 42 double bogeys or worse. Scores have ranged from the low of 67, registered by first-round leader Marcus Kinhult, to a high of 86 by Ryan Van Velzen.
Jordan's fast start
With the opening four holes playing downwind, players knew that was a section of the course to be capitalised upon. Jordan did exactly that, and in some style. After birdies at his opening three holes, he then made an eagle at the par five fourth on his way to a 69 that has him among the nearest challengers to Southgate. "Going out, you know with two par fives kind of downwind, and the way the wind is and the course is playing, that you do obviously want to get off to a good start," he said. "Obviously, that was better than good. But it was certainly in my mind to get off to a good start, knowing that you end up playing, I’d say, probably like seven out of the next nine holes into a left to right win. To start like that enabled me to then just hopefully try and plod along."
Norris enjoying 'game of chess'
Shaun Norris compared the challenge posed by Trump International Golf Links to "a big game of chess" as he moved into a position to vie for victory. The South African is making his first visit to the Old Course at the Aberdeen venue, having missed last year's edition as it returned to the DP World Tour schedule after a five-year absence. It garnered some rave reviews from the players then and Norris is thoroughly enjoying the test as he backed up an opening 72 with a 69 to get to three under and hold a share of the early clubhouse on day two in Scotland. "That's a reason I'm playing – I saw it on TV last year, I thought, ‘yes, I would really like that’", he said. "So I decided on playing this week. It’s really an unbelievable golf course."
Amateur Baker continues to impress
Eliot Baker is making his DP World Tour debut this week. The English amateur was announced in the Great Britain and Ireland team for next month's Walker Cup at Lahinch and viewed the chance to play at Trump International Golf Links as ideal preparation. After carding a 69 in the first round, he shot a 73 to sit at two under - two adrift of the lead. "That definitely wasn't easy out there today," he said. "That wind got blowing, the rain kept coming through but to be up there on the leaderboard going into the weekend on my debut, I couldn't be happier."
Hole-in-one for Sharma
On Friday, India's Shubhankar Sharma enjoyed a hole-in-one at the 178-yard sixth. It helped the two-time DP World Tour winner to a 72 that means he heads into the weekend at one over. It is his first cut since the Turkish Airlines Open in May. No wonder, he was smiling as he received a gift from Jonas Hedberg, Director of Golf at Trump International Golf Links.
