There are many ways to describe the intricate technicalities of golf. Jim Furyk’s ungainly swipe, for instance, was once likened to an octopus falling out of a tree. This correspondent’s swing, meanwhile, is often mistaken for that startled octopus trying to clamber back up the tree.
Here at the 100th M&H Logistics Scottish PGA Championship, Louis Gaughan added to the colourful critiques of the finer details involved with this game after a seven-under 65 over the King’s Course at Gleneagles hoisted him to within two shots of the halfway pacesetter, Gareth Wright.
“When I started with my new coach, Alan McCloskey, he looked at me and said ‘you’ve got a set up like a pun o’ mince but you must have something if you can compete on the Tartan Tour with it’,” explained Gaughan, who is nicely perched on an eight-under aggregate of 134. “I took that as a positive.”
Gaughan certainly made positive strides yesterday. Seven shots off the lead at the start of the second round, the 23-year-old made some sizeable inroads as Wright, who opened with a sparkling 62 on Monday, had to settle for a more modest 71 as the chasing pack closed in.
A haul of six birdies aided Gaughan’s offensive although he had one of those cellophane over the hole moments on the 17th when his birdie putt from 25-feet glided over the cup. “I was robbed there,” he added with a wry grin.
As a product of Bathgate Golf Club, Gaughan doesn’t have to look far for golfing inspiration as he seeks his first major win on the Tartan Tour. The West Lothian town’s two celebrated Ryder Cup greats, Eric Brown and Bernard Gallacher, won 13 Scottish PGA Championship titles between them, with Brown's first coming 60 years ago. “We seem to keep producing players and it’s just a good environment to learn,” added Gaughan of his own development there.
As the reeling in job on overnight leader Wright intensified, Gaughan was joined in a share of second by Paul O’Hara, who bolstered his assault with a neatly assembled six-under 65 which was kick-started by birdie putts of 20 feet and 12 feet respectively at the first and second. There was another spark to help the cause. His older brother Steven, who had nine seasons on the main European Tour and is now doing his PGA training, also hurtled round in 65 blows as the former Walker Cup player and Scottish Amateur champion moved up onto a three-under tally. Sibling rivalry remains a good driving force. “I saw Steven’s name on the leaderboard when I got to the 14th so I thought I’ll need to try to match that,” said the younger O’Hara after his bogey-free round.
Ross Cameron, who was two-over after eight holes, came home in five-under as he tucked himself into fourth place with a 68 for 135 while Renfrewshire’s Sam Binning, whose late grandfather was a member here for 40 years and had his ashes scattered over the 14th hole of the King’s Course, continued to make purposeful moves in a poignant setting as his 69 left with a six-under aggregate.
Alastair Forsyth, the Scottish PGA champion back in 2000, mounted a spirited salvage operation to haul himself up into a share of sixth. The two-time European Tour winner had been three-over after just three holes of his second round, but an eagle on the sixth provided the catalyst for a recovery and he picked up five birdies on the inward half to post a battling 67 for a four-under total.
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