Bang in- form Aaron Rai is back on the title trail on Scottish soil
Aaron Rai will be swapping Wolverhampton f or Whitburn if he keeps this up on Scottish soil. A fortnight after winning the Scottish Open, the 25- year- old Englishman is on the title trail again.
He holed his second shot at the opening hole for the first of two eagles in the second round of the Scottish Championship presented by AXA at Fairmont St Andrews to sit just one shot offthe lead at the halfway stage.
Another Englishman, Matt Wallace, and Spaniard Adrian Otaegui are out in front on 12- under in the European Tour's first visit to the Fife resort, but an in- form Rai, pictured, is lurking ominously after impressive opening efforts of 66 and 67.
"It was unexpected," admitted Rai of his flying start to the second circuit, which he followed by chipping in for a 3 at the long sixth. "I was actually trying to play it a couple of yards right and pulled it a little bit, but it was a good shot and you’d take that any day."
His Rolex Series win i n East Lothian came on the back of a second- place finish in the Irish Open. A missed cut in last week's BMW PGA
C h a m p i o n s h i p a t Wentworth appears to have j ust been a blip.
"It’s natural to feel confident on the back end of how things have gone over the last few weeks but still not to a point where I take for granted what’s happening, so I’m trying to strike that balance of howtoapproachthings," said the quietly- spoken Rai.
"I’m trying to focus on myself as much as possible and just to continue to do exactly what I’ve been doing over the last few months. If I do that, I’ll give myself chances to keep getting better and keep progressing.”
Adding a 67 to his opening 65, Wallace, the world No 51 and second highest- ranked p l a y e r i n t h e f i e l d , dropped just one shot in his opening 36 holes in the company of European Ryder Cup captain Padraig Harrington, whois handily- placed on nine- under.
Otaegui, who started the day with a three- shot lead after his spectacular 10- under
62 on Thursday, was one- over at the turn before coming home in three- under for a 70.
Marc Warren, who finished fourth behind Rai at The Renaissance Club, is leading Scot on eight- under, having signed off with three birdies as he added a 69 to an opening 67 to sit in a tie for eighth
"It wasn’t my best stuff out there," admitted the Austrian Open champion. "I was struggling with my ball- striking a little, hanging in there most of the day, but never really in much trouble.
"If it’s going to be calm over the weekend, I think 20- under is a winning score. Someone will get there, the greens are so good and the course is good. There should be a lot of birdies, so it’ll be exciting."
Maintaining his recent encouraging form on the main tour, Craig Howie carded seven birdies in a 68 as he moved into a tie for 18th on six- under, one ahead of Ewen Ferguson ( 72).
With a 67 that contained six birdies, David Law jumped 35 spots into a share of 30th position on four- under alongside Connor Syme ( 70) and David Drysdale ( 71). Richie Ramsay ( 68), Calum Hill ( 72) and Scott Jamieson ( 75) all progressed on two- under, with Daniel Young making it a total of 10 home players still standing as he came home in 32 for a 71 to squeeze through onone- under.