In-form Scot Calum Hill superbly elbowed his way amid many England flags to again be in contention at the Cazoo Classic in Kent.
Hill, 26, capped his round chipping-in for an eagle ‘3’ at the fifth and then birdied the sixth in a superb bogey-free 67 to move to a share of third at nine-under par at the London Club.
England’s Dale Whitnall (68) and Welshman Rhys Enoch (65) share the lead at 10-under par and Hill tied with with England’s Jordan Smith (69).
A week ago, it was Tartan flags atop of the board at the Hero Open with Hill eventually settling for a share of fourth behind Grant Forrest at the Fairmont resort in St. Andrews.
Hill said: “It was a nice round of golf as I played really nice and there wasn’t too much stress involved.
“I had a really strong week, last week and the form is still there and hopefully I can just keep building on the things I need to improve on, and just keep moving forward
“It’s always nice to be in position for the weekend and have a chance at winning a golf tournament again. There are still two rounds to go but I would just like to get myself in position again for the back nine on Sunday.”
Bathgate’s Stephen Gallacher signed for a bogey-free 66 to be next best Scot at six-under par and one fewer than Kingsbarns Links Daniel Young (71).
Meantime –
Nairn’s Kelsey MacDonald finds herself the leading Scot sharing fifth spot on five-under par heading to the weekend rounds of the Trust Golf Women’s Scottish Open at Dumbarnie Links in Fife.
MacDonald, 30, toughed out the windy conditions adding a one-under par 71 to her opening 68 and capping her round for a second day running by eagling the par-5 15th.
She said: “When the elements are so tough, it can eliminate half the field straightaway and you just have to grind out. You never know what’s going to happen. I do like when it’s tougher”.
In contrast, Aberdonian Michele Thomson who led by two after a new course record 65 on Thursday crashed down the board in managing just one birdie in an eight-over par 80 to be at one-over par.
Thailand’s two-time major winning Ariya Jutanugarn birdied five of the last seven holes for a 66 and lead by three shots on nine-under.
