Warren predicting birdie barrage if wind doesn’t blow

If the wind doesn’t get up over the weekend 20under or better will be needed to win the Scottish Championship presented by AXA, believes Marc Warren.

The Scot is close to halfway there standing at eight- under after two rounds, four behind coleaders Matt Wallace and Adrian Otaegui, his second strong showing on home soil in just three weeks after he had a glimpse of a chance for a while on Sunday at the Scottish Open.

He rescued a 69 with three birdies to finish yesterday on a Torrance Course which has plenty room off the tee and a jungle of rough if you do miss.

“I hit a really poor tee shot on the par five sixth and did well just to find the ball,” said Warren. “I got it back in play and made a bit of a mess of it, but six wasn’t a complete disaster.

“It was nice to bounce back with three birdies to finish after that. It wasn’t my best stuff out there,

“I was struggling with my ball-striking a bit. It wasn’t great off the tee but never really had much trouble so was making a lot of pars, I was hanging in there it felt like most of the day. “

Warren knows the course better than most in the field having played it on several occasions, and with no wind despite the cold, the fairways and green fairly soft after the autumnal rains of late, he thinks it’s there for the taking.

“If it’s going to be calm ( over the weekend) the winning score will be 20under – someone will get there,” he said. “The greens are so good and the course is great.

“It will be interesting to see, there should be a lot of birdies over the weekend so it should be exciting to watch.”

Warren is sharing eighth place with the next best Scot 10 spots further back in Peebles’ Craig Howie, another young player without a main tour card who has stood out with some limited chances during the UK Swings.

He had a fine tournament in the UK Championship at The Belfry where a final round 65 resulted in a career- best fifth place, and has put together two solid rounds to start the Scottish Championship. Yesterday’s 68 came after four birdies in his last eight holes.

Ewen Ferguson marked time with a par 72 but is still well- placed, while David Law put recent tough Fridays behind him with a five-under 67, good enough to leap from beyond the cut mark to a place in the top 40.

Connor Syme, with a second successive 70, and David Drysdale, after a one- under 71 yesterday, are also on four-under at the halfway stage.

Richie Ramsay produced a 68 to comfortably make the weekend, while Perth’s Daniel Young just made it on the mark thanks to coming back in fourunder 32 with the pressure on.

Marc Warren: Four behind joint leaders.