Neil loses ground but makes cut

Blairgowrie golfer takes 10 shots more than his opening round

Bradley Neil’s second round in the BMW SA Open was 10 shots worse than his first, as the Blairgowrie golfer only just managed to make the halfway cut.

The former Amateur champion followed up his opening day 67 with a Friday 77 to sit on level par, which was the cut mark.

England’s Chris Paisley and France’s Adrien Saddier surged clear of the field on a low-scoring day

There was no sign of a slump when Neil started his round – the back nine – by getting to two under for the day and seven under for the tournament after six holes.

Six bogeys, a double bogey and only one birdie followed in the next 12 holes, though.

David Drysdale made the cut on the same 36-hole total, while Marc Warren was two under.

Paisley briefly enjoyed a four-shot lead when he birdied four of his last five holes to add a second round of 65 to his opening 66 at Glendower Golf Club.

But Saddier then played his last three holes in four under par to complete a flawless, course record-equalling 63 and join Paisley at the top of the leaderboard on 13 under par.

Paisley, who has yet to win on the European Tour, said: “I actually didn’t feel like I played as well (yesterday) as (Thursday), especially off the tee, but I holed a lot of good putts and hit a few wedge shots really close.

“I tried to be attacking, not crazy but just trying to do the same things as I did (on Thursday).

“It’s quite easy after a good round to maybe be a bit more defensive and protect your position a bit but I’ve made that mistake a few times so I was determined not to do that and went out and tried to hit the shots and keep to my game plan,” he said.

“I can’t wait for the weekend. I’ve never been in this position before . . .”

South Africa’s Jacques Kruyswijk is four shots off the leading pair following a 67, with first round co-leaders Branden Grace and Chase Koepka a shot further back alongside two-time US Open champion Retief Goosen and Zimbabwe’s Scott Vincent.

Goosen, who has slipped from a career-high of third in the world to 404th after eight years without a win, raced to the turn in 31 and had reached 10 under par before running up a double-bogey on the 18th.

Defending champion Graeme Storm, who defeated Rory Mcilroy in a play-off 12 months ago, missed the cut by a single shot despite improving five shots on his opening 75.

Picture: Getty. There was disappointment for Bradley Neil in the second round of the BMW SA Open as he followed his opening day 67 with a 77 to sit on level par, which was the cut mark.