Scotland’s David Drysdale had good cause to be singing the praise of his new putting coach after soaring to near the lead with two eagles and three birdies in an impressive round of 68 on day two of the Scandinavian Mixed hosted by Annika and Henrik in Sweden.
Drysdale holed a six-footer for eagle at the par-5 fourth hole and brilliantly sent a 40-footer for eagle to the bottom of the cup at the par-5 10th ahead of three birdies in succession from the 11th hole.
The Borders star’s effort, and with wife Vicky calling the shots, handed Drysdale a nine-under par tally in the inaugural mixed European Tour and Ladies European Tour (LET) event on the Vallda course to the south of Gothenburg.
Caroline Hedwall, 32, heads the field by a shot in also grabbing two eagles in an eight-under par 64 for the 15-time pro-winning Swede to lead the field by a shot at 13-under par.
Dutchman Joost Luiten is the best of the men who’s now managed a dozen birdies over his two rounds to be in second place at 12-under par. Drydale is among four sharing ninth place but only four shots from the lead adn with two rounds to play.
David Drysdale now worth with Andy Paisely and the older brother of fellow European Tour player, Chris Paisley
The proud Scot’s great display over the two rounds, that earlier included an eagle and five birdies in his opening 67, is pretty much down to his work with new putting coach, Andy Paisley.
Paisley is the head pro at Hexham Golf club and currently coaches a number of players on both the European Tour and also the LET, including Kylie Henry, the wife of former Tour player Scott Henry and who was grouped with Drysdale for the opening two rounds this week.
Paisley also is the older brother of European Tour player Chris Paisley.
Drysdale said: “I’d been noticing how well Chris has been playing, as he’s a real solid performer out here, and that was one of the reasons I decided to go and see his brother Andy, and seek some help with my putting.
“I’ve been down to Hexham a couple of times now and he’s been great. He’s brought in a couple of changes, and I now have a more disciplined practice with regards to my putting.
Andy Paisley now working with Scotland’s David Drysdale
“So, I’ve been working hard on it the past few weeks and I’m starting to see some improvement, and I will get to see him next week when I’m back home”.
Drysdale has worked in the past with renowned Phil Kenyon though it was only for a six-month period that he admitted ‘I didn’t follow through properly’.
And now working with Paisley, Drysdale is sticking with the controversial ‘arm-lock’ method of putting that many observers have called to be outlawed.
Drysdale said: “I don’t think it should be banned but that’s my own personal view. I had gone off on my own with that technique rather than go for lessons.
“However, it was pretty abysmal so that’s why I went off to see Andy.
“Since working with Andy, I can definitely and absolutely see a marked difference in my putting, and it’s just nice to see the hard work I have been putting into my putting pay off on the greens”.
And in playing alongside a fellow Scot in Henry, Drysdale said the duo had something in common.
He said: “Funny enough, Andy also coaches Kylie on her long game, short game and putting so we’ve een talking away about out on the course these last two days.
“So, Andy is a busy guy as he coaches a few guys on the Tour like Dean Burmester, who won recently”.
And Drysdale was equally full of praise for this new Tour initiative hosted by two of the greats in both mens and womens golf in Henrik Stenson and Annika Sorenstam.
He said: “It’s an interesting concept this week and a first time with the women mixed together with the men because we’ve had mixed events in the past but usually, they’ve been separate events and also on adjoining courses.
“The girls competing this week great players and it’s nice to see them performing closehand.
“Though it will be interesting to see what transpires from this week, and if one of the ladies ends-up winning, I don’t know what it’s going to look like for us men (laughing).
“The great thing though, and it’s something that Vicky mentioned to me, that if a woman does win you treat it as well done to a fellow golf professional”.
Dubai-based Scot Alison Muirfield was the only Scottish woman among four to make the cut in posting a second round 71 to move to four-under par.
