For Scott Jamieson it’s his own ‘Italian Job’ as he goes about retaining his Tour card for an 11th straight season with a gutsy 67 on day two of the 78th DS Automobiles Italian Open in Rome.
Jamieson grabbed six birdies in his four-under effort to muscle his way just outside the top-10 at five-under par on the Marco Simone course that will also play host to the 2023 Ryder Cup.
Scottish Open champ Min Woo Lee of Australia jumped two shots clear of the field with a second day 68 and moving to 10-under par. Henrik Stenson, who had shared the day one lead with Lee, showed his disgust in doubling the 17th by hurling his ball into the water in posting a 71 and fall three behind Lee.
Jamieson arrived in the Italian capital having held his European Tour card since his first full season in 2011 but at present the Florida-based Scot is currently ranked 133rd and with the top-115 at the close of November 7th Portugal Masters retaining their card.
Jamieson said: “I have some catching-up to do as I’m currently on the wrong side of the line with regards holding onto my card
“If I play well this week and also next week then I will take it from there”.
Jamieson had ended his opening round in a bizarre manner being out in the last group on Thursday but headed down the 18th in near darkness. He put his second shot through the green and was thinking of marking his ball and returning to putt out on Friday morning.
He said: “If I was going to putt it I would have waited for this morning as it was getting darker. I really couldn’t see the slopes of the green well but I knew I could chip it well enough to get it close and take the slope out of it.
“So, I chipped it to about four feet from the hole and I was happy at that point with putting out”.
Jamieson’s second round, and from the 10th tee, was just as remarkable in just missing a water hazard from where he second shot was about 30-feet short of the flag.
He said: “I kind of scurried something up onto the green and holed it. It wasn’t pretty but you have to take them when they come.
“Overall, the two rounds have been a bit of a mixed bag as the conditions on Thursday afternoon when I was out were really tricky so I was pleased with one-under.
“Though knowing we were going to have the best of the weather this morning, it was important to play well and I managed to do that.
“The best part of my game these two rounds is I have read the greens really well. I have missed a few short ones, I have holed a lot of good putts from the 12 to 15 feet range”.
Calum Hill (65) at two-under along with Grant Forrest (71) at level par will join Jamieson over the weekend but with six other Scots missing the cut.
