Despite not coming anywhere near his opening 60, Branden Grace extended his lead to five shots at the Dunhill Links Championship.
Grace: Plenty to smile about
The South African shot a far more sedate 67 at St Andrews on Friday, a full seven shots lower than his record-equalling opening round on Thursday, but still enjoys a big lead heading into the weekend.
Grace was only level par through his first six holes, but then birdied four in a row from the seventh on a run sent him clear as the rest struggled to keep pace.
He capped that off with a birdie at the 18th to take his total to 17 under par, five ahead of Sweden's Joel Sjoholm (67) and Dane Thorbjorn Olesen (69).
"As soon as I made the birdie at the fifth I settled down and got things going and the form of yesterday kicked in," Grace told europeantour.com of his round. "The putts kept going in and I made three 25 footers which was nice.
"I think the way I'm playing and hitting the ball I'm looking forward to playing Carnoustie. The putter is going and I'm looking forward to it."
The South African admitted that the format - which meant that he switched courses on Friday - suited him.
"It would have been a hard situation if I had to play Kingsbarns again after shooting lights out. Getting to St Andrews I didn't know what to expect," he said.
"I struggling a bit in the beginning, but then my putter started getting hot again."
Another South African, Anton Haig, lies a further shot back in fourth place, while Graeme Storm (66), Magnus Carlsson (68) and Fabrizio Zanotti (66) share fifth place on 10 under.
Three of Europe's Ryder Cup heroes are playing in Scotland this week, but their Medinah hangover still seems to be in full effect.
Peter Hanson is two under after a 70, Martin Kaymer, who hit the winning putt on Sunday, is one under after a 71 and Paul Lawrie is one over after a 70.
golf365.com