Ireland’s Simon Thornton produced his equal lowest Tour score of a 64 to move into contention at the halfway stage of the centenary KLM Open at Hilversum.
The Newcastle golfer grabbed an eagle and four birdies for a six under par tally in the premier Dutch event.
Simon Thornton matches his best lowest European Tour round on day two of the 2012 KLM Open. (Photo – Jenny Matthews/www.golffile.ie)
England’s Graeme Storm added a 67 to move to 11-under par and three clear of his rivals as he seeks to end a five-year winless drought since his only Tour win, the 2007 French Open.
Scotland’s Scott Jamieson (64) shares second with Spain’s Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano (65) and Sweden’s Ryder Cup star Peter Hanson (66).
Thornton’s score, albeit on a par 70 layout, equals a Tour low of 64 he produced in the 2007 Wales Open.
Thornton, 35 arrived in Holland lying well down in 158th on the Race to Dubai and now desperate for a decent result in his remaining handful of events in order to secure his Tour card for next year.
And making a huge difference in his round was a decision to return to his old Scotty Cameron putter after electing to take a newer putter into day one and recording 27 putts and four fewer putts than Thursday.
“I played lovely today tee to green but the difference today was the putting,” said Thornton.
“I brought my old putter out with me but after putting so poorly on Thursday I just decided to go back to the old one.
“You want to be trying different things and looking for that key but the new putter just didn’t work for me so it was an easy decision to put it back in the locker.”
