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Aberg claims lead, Rory three back in ideal conditions at Scottish Open

olympicgames12 July 2024 19:35| © Reuters
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Ludvig Aberg claimed a one-shot lead at the Scottish Open on Friday, clear of the field with a tournament score of 12-under-par with defending champion Rory McIlroy just three shots off the pace.

Aberg delivered the best 36-hole score (128) of his career with back-to-back rounds of 64 to establish the scoring record through two rounds at The Renaissance Club in events when par is 70.

He entered the clubhouse early with a one-shot lead over France's Antoine Rozner (11 under) and wrapped his 36th hole before McIlroy was fully into his second 18 on Friday.

"There's, what, 150-something players in the field? No one is going to play perfect golf for 72 holes," Aberg said on Friday. 

"I think it's going to happen to everyone at some point, and whenever that happens, you've just got to try to deal with it the best you can, and all I can do is try to put good swings on it, and then hopefully the decision that we've made is the right one and try to hit it again when we find it."

Weather has been a rare non-factor in North Berwick, Scotland, with temperatures in the low 60s and wind speeds barely noticeable at less than 10 mph.

IN CONTENTION

First-round leader Justin Thomas dropped well off the pace with a 72 in the second round, 10 shots worse than his round on Thursday.

Aberg has hit 31 of 36 greens in regulation, which doesn't count landing his ball on the green at the eighth in the first round.

That approach landed directly on top of the resting approach shot of Collin Morikawa, sending both golf balls away from the hole in opposite directions.

Aberg made bogey in the first round and followed with a par on Friday, when he recorded six birdies and no bogeys.

"It's been very nice. I felt like we've had a very good game plan and executing the shots," Aberg said. "We try not to force anything."

With an eagle at the par-5 third hole and four birdies Friday, Rozner enters the weekend contending for his sixth professional tournament win and first since the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open in 2022.

He's also trying to qualify for the Open Championship next week.

"It's definitely on my mind," Rozner said. "As of now, I'm going to try to win this tournament. I'm in pretty good contention. But yeah, I'm trying to not think too much about this. There's still two rounds of golf to play. It's a big event for us, so whatever result I have, it will be good points and yeah, hopefully I can, yeah, as I said, play well this weekend and potentially qualify for The Open."

Sungjae Im (South Korea) was 3 under on Friday and tied at 10 under for the tournament with Italy's Matteo Manassero, one clear of a tightly packed grouping one shot behind.

HOJGAARD BROTHERS CLOSE

Sweden's Alex Noren bogeyed 17 to fall back of Im and Manassero with two US golfers, Sahith Theegala and Morikawa, McIlroy, Denmark's Rasmus Hojgaard and Spain's Alejandro Del Rey.

Del Rey posted a 62 in the second round with birdies on his first six holes.

"I was 6-under through six but still didn't feel like I was hitting the ball as good as I probably wanted," he said. "I don't know, hitting decent shots at the right moment and making putts, but I still struggled a little bit off the tee all day. Trying to keep it in the fairway. That's been tough so far this week."

Theegala called the relatively pristine weather conditions "eerie" for the first two rounds, comparing it to a California day.

"I've taken my jacket off in the first five holes of the round, which I can do a full seven-day trip out here and not take it off one time. So been really lucky with the weather. Without a little bit of weather, the golf course doesn't show too much teeth," Theegala said.

"It's a tough golf course. Obviously the winning scores the last few years is not very low, or it's pretty high. Can't expect four days of perfect weather. So I'm just going to assume the next couple days are not going to be as good as the last two."

Hojgaard enters the weekend with a one-shot advantage over his brother, Nicolai Hojgaard, who sits at 8 under and earned a spot in The Open Championship at this event last year.

Adam Scott, who missed the cut last year, followed a first-round 67 with a 65 on Friday, tallying 13 birdies in his first 36 holes.

"I didn't play well today but somehow I still managed to make some birdies. So putter must have been performing quite nicely but we've had ideal conditions," Scott said.

"So although pins were a bit more tucked today, it was a good day for the putter to roll a few in and I'm hanging in there."

RORY IN THE HUNT

McIlroy is in the hunt in his first appearance since his disastrous finish to the US Open last month.

"It's a great leaderboard," McIlroy said. "Collin is up there. Sahith is up there. Bob (Robert MacIntyre of Scotland, who is 8 under) has played pretty solid the first couple days. Obviously a home interest to root for for everyone here. Yeah, it's another weekend where I'm right in the mix of a golf tournament, and that's a nice position to be in after the last three weeks that I've had."

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