Former European Tour professional Craig Lee is within touching distance of a spot at this week’s Scottish Open after an opening round of two under par at the two-day qualifying tournament at Longniddry.
Five years ago Lee lost out in a play-off with Thomas Bjorn for the European Masters title but in the intervening period, the 41-year-old from Stirling has lost his tour card, picked up a serious wrist injury and for all intents and purposes, hung up his clubs.
However, despite having played only three rounds since his last appearance on the circuit, in Spain in October, the lure of playing in the Scottish Open at Gullane was enough to encourage him to enter the qualifying tournament.
An impressive 66 yesterday has left him just one shot off the lead and in a good position to claim one of the four available qualifying spots.
Grant Wright and Sam Locke are leading the way after shooting 65s but Lee was hugely encouraged by his own round., even if it was something of a surprise.
“I intended to play a bit more this year than I have but I just haven’t had time,” Lee said.“So my round was a pleasant surprise.
“The putting was a bit ropey but I holed some nice six-footers to save par after being a bit hot-handed or the complete opposite, a bit too delicate, previously. But I hit the driver really well so that made things easier for me.”
Lee said if were to make it into the Scottish Open field, it would mean the world to him and he is optimistic that a similar score to his first round could be enough to get him over the line.
“I’d love to be there,” he said of the Scottish Open. “I believe we’re getting a bit more wind for the second round which might make it more interesting but I’d take another 66. I was surprised to go under par in the first place so I’d be happy with that again.”
Amateur Sam Locke, who is a member of the Paul Lawrie Academy, is in a fine run of form having secured a place in The Open by winning the qualifying event last Tuesday. And to have built on that result with yesterday’s round was, he said was hugely pleasing.
“I hit it really well but I just didn’t putt that great,” said Locke of yesterday’s round. “There’s been a lot going on but I couldn’t wait to get back competing. I’m feeling confident and I’m feeling in control, which is nice. So if I can get a few more putts going in, I should be in.”
Today’s battle for the four qualifying spots promises to be a dog-fight with 11 players just one shot behind the two leaders.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here