Even as gusty winds lashed Royal Aberdeen, the course shed its cloak of benign innocence, to bare its fangs and torment golfers in the second round of the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open. On a day when the course penalized the errant severely, Jeev Milkha Singh’s even par 71 was enough to launch him inside the top 20. Gaganjeet Bhullar had one of the better rounds of the day, a 69 to help him cling for dear life, right over the cut line. Shiv Kapur had a slippery 75 to undo much of his good work in the first round and join Bhullar in T64.
Rory McIlroy suffered a spectacular let down in the second round – a pattern that has wrecked him in quite a few tournaments. Friday blues nearly sank the Irishman below the cut line, but four straight pars saved him the blushes.
McIlroy produced a course record 64 on Thursday, but started the second round with a bogey before slipping downhill from there. Three bogeys on the front nine meant he needed 38 to make the turn – 5 more than the first round – and it got much worse on his way back.
Three bogeys and double over a five hole span from the 10th left McIlroy staring at the barrel at 7-under. Only four straight pars on the final four holes salvaged some dignity as he signed for 78 – 14 worse than his first round effort – to slip to T35 with an even par 142.
The best Indian on Friday was Bhullar, but his 75 from yesterday meant that he was still two-over and hanging on for dear life, just above the projected cut. Kapur produced a transposition to Bhullar – following his first round 69 with a 75 in the second. He needed 40 shots to navigate the back nine – suffering from three bogeys and a double at the 18th.
Singh slipped to 1-over through four holes, but three birdies in four holes just before making the turn helped him recover and break par yet again. Eventually the man from Chandigarh made an even 71 to break into the top twenty.
Report by Anand Datla
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