Brooks upstages big names at Scottish Open
England’s Daniel Brooks was a surprise halfway-stage leader of the Scottish Open at Gullane on Friday, getting to 11 under on the back of a second round of 65.
Ranked 528th in the world, the 28-year-old played a second straight superb round of golf to leave a topclass field trailing in his wake.
Brooks leads by three strokes over a six-strong group including world No.7 and defending champion Justin Rose, Irish links specialist Shane Lowry, back-to-form Graeme McDowell, all of whom had 66s, and leading American challenger Ryan Palmer with a 65.
A further stroke back on seven under came Rafa Cabrera-Bello of Spain (66), Argentina’s Emiliano Grillo (67) and English trio Tommy Fleetwood (66), Richard McEvoy (67) and Richard Finch (68).
The tournament on East Lothian’s Golf Coast is a prime buildup event for next week’s British Open at nearby St Andrews, but as it stands, Brooks has not even qualified for that.
To do so he would have to finish in the top 10 here and his play over the first two rounds have certainly given him every chance to do so.
Brooks has won just once on the European Tour — at the 2014 Madeira Islands Open — and that 36-hole victory was totally overshadowed by the tragic death of Alastair Forsyth’s caddie Ian McGregor.
His recent form has been poor, but a strong showing at last week’s French Open did wonders for his confidence and he came in late Thursday with a 64 to sit alone in second.
Friday’s round was draped around an eagle at the second, where he hit a five-iron to eight feet, and birdies at the final two holes.
“It seems like a long time ago now [Madeira Islands win]. I played some terrible golf between now and then, but I’m starting to come back,” he said.
“It’s hard, you know, to miss that many cuts. It does get you down. It only takes one good week out here and hopefully that’s what I’ll have.”