Return to St Andrews inspires Denmark's Lucas Bjerregaard; Calum Hill still well-placed in second as Justin Walters and part-time Uber driver Berry Henson defy the elements; watch the third round of the Hero Open live on Sky Sports Golf from 1pm on Saturday
Friday 6 August 2021 21:47, UK
Lucas Bjerregaard has clearly been inspired by his return to the Fife coastline after blazing his way around Fairmont St Andrews in a course-record, 10-under 62 to take the lead in the Hero Open.
The 29-year-old Dane has slumped to 960th in the world rankings after reaching a high of 42nd in May 2019 following a horrendous run of results in recent years.
He claimed the last of his two European Tour victories at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship in October 2018 and he is now on track for more glory in St Andrews following a superb second-round performance.
Bjerregaard did not get his round under way until late in the afternoon following a 200-minute delay to the start of play due to heavy rain.
After starting at the 10th - he opened with a double-bogey at the first on Thursday - Bjerregaard made a hat-trick of birdies from the 12th before his only bogey of the day came at the 15th.
Back-to-back birdies at the 17th and 18th completed his back nine and he then went on a birdie blitz on the front nine with six on the trot from the third to storm two shots clear on 15 under.
"My putter might be the most valuable thing in Scotland right now," Bjerregaard said. "I've never putted like that and I'm not sure I've seen anyone putt like that. That was pretty special, I'm a happy man right now.
"When I made the turn, I was four under and then hit a bad tee shot on one. Terrible second shot, not a good wedge shot in and holed that for par.
"Then I got to three, hit two good shots on the par five, just short of the green, hit a terrible chip shot and holed that and thought 'this is going pretty good'. Then I had a terrible shot on eight and holed a 50-60 footer."
Scotland's Calum Hill, the first-round pacesetter, added a four-under 68 to his opening 63 to sit in second place.
The 26-year-old again managed to keep a bogey off his card with birdies at the sixth, 12th, 15th and 18th elevating him to 13 under.
In contrast to Hill and Bjerregaard, South African Justin Walters has endured the worst of the conditions so far, but he defied the elements to shoot an eight-under 64 to claim a share of third place on 12 under - a score 15 shots better than the average for players in his half of the draw.
Walters had only one bogey on his card, along with seven birdies and an eagle at the third, to sit alongside Spain's Santiago Tarrio, who fired a 65.
"There were times where I felt like I got the wrong end of the draw [but] I told myself not to go down that road of self pity," Walters said. "I dug in deep and played really, really solid when I had to.
"I like to hit the ball low when I need to and I think that helps in harder conditions. Yesterday it ran a bit so you could keep it under the wind a little and keep it in play. Then it's about making some putts, which is difficult to do, but I was able to do that."
England's Matthew Jordan, who birdied the 18th for a 66, shares fifth place on 11 under with Robin Sciot-Siegrist of France (68).
American Berry Henson, the world No 1,217 who has been filling in his spare time by working as an Uber driver, was another player to battle through the worst of the conditions with a second successive 67 taking him to 10 under.
The 42-year-old mainly competes on the Asian Tour but played just six events in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic and had missed the cut in six of his eight starts in 2021, including the last five in succession.
"I haven't played much golf in the last two years," Henson said after a round containing an eagle, five birdies and a double bogey. "I was driving Uber five weeks ago and now this week people are watching me play golf. I'm just enjoying being out here."
Also on 10 under are Scotland's David Law (67), Shubhankar Sharma of India (67) and American Sihwan Kim (65), although there are a number of players who will have to return to the course early on Saturday morning to complete their second rounds following the earlier delay.
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