Tommy Fleetwood
CARNOUSTIE - Tommy Fleetwood and Michael Hoey left a trail of big names in their wake to take a share of the second-round lead at the Dunhill Links Championship on Friday.
Fleetwood, who tops the second-tier Challenge Tour rankings, shot a 9-under 63 at Kingsbarns, the same course where joint first-round leader Hoey shot a second straight 66. They both have 12-under totals of 132 in the US$5 million pro-am event also played over Carnoustie and St. Andrews.
Fleetwood's score was just a stroke off the course record, set in 2003 by fellow Englishman Lee Westwood - the year he won the prestigious tournament.
The second-ranked Westwood and U.S. Open winner Rory McIlroy, who are both five strokes back on 7 under, are among the star names being put in the shade by the two unheralded leaders.
"I've watched this tournament on TV for years and I pretty much analyze everything (the top players) do. Obviously my name is in pretty good company right now," said the 20-year-old Fleetwood, who won a Challenge Tour event in Kazakhstan three weeks ago.
"It's good to be up there. Hopefully I can shoot a decent score tomorrow (at Carnoustie) and then play with somebody like Martin Kaymer and Westwood. That would be really cool."
Louis Oosthuizen of South Africa is one shot back after a 67 in unseasonably warm conditions at Carnoustie, and now heads to St. Andrews - where he won the British Open last year - for his third round.
Former U.S. Open champion Graeme McDowell is tied on 10 under with four others after shooting a second 67 of the week and defending champion Martin Kaymer made the same score at Carnoustie to lie a stroke further back with Rafael Cabrera-Bello, one of four players who started the day in the lead on 6 under.
Top-ranked Luke Donald is back on 4 under after a 71 while fifth-ranked Dustin Johnson is struggling to make the cut, which is made on Saturday, after stuttering to a 1-over 73 at Carnoustie. It left the American on level par and tied for 111th.
Hoey has already won a title this year - in Madeira in May - but capturing the Dunhill Links and a first prize of 588,148 euros (US$800,000) would rank much higher among his achievements.
"It's nice to do well in the big ones, because I did reasonable at Wentworth (31st) too. Hopefully I can keep going the next two days," the former British amateur champion said.
While Hoey made seven birdies, Fleetwood rolled in nine in an error-free round after turning in 31 at Kingsbarns, which is producing the lowest scores of the three courses.
With no wind to speak of for the second day running, most of the high-profile players who went round the usually severe Carnoustie took full advantage.
The sixth-ranked Kaymer, looking to become the first player to successfully defend the title, was one of them and the German put himself in contention to break the course record of 64 after eight birdies in the space of 14 holes.
Bogeys at Nos. 16 and 17 set him back, however.
"I played very good golf - it was just not a very good finish. But I'll settle for a 67 at Carnoustie," Kaymer said.
Daniel Gaunt of Australia (65 at Kingsbarns), Markus Brier of Austria (68 at Kingsbarns), Marc Warren of Scotland (68 at St. Andrews) and Jaco van Zyl of South Africa (67 at Carnoustie) were level on 10 under with McDowell.
James Byrne stole the show from Walker Cup teammate Tom Lewis with a hole-in-one at Carnoustie.
Byrne aced the par-3 13th when his 7-iron from 174 yards landed just short of the pin before dropping in.
That shot came between a birdie and an eagle as the 22-year-old Scot briefly moved to 10 under, a shot behind the leaders in his first European Tour event since turning professional after Britain & Ireland's Walker Cup win over the United States.
A closing seven saw him finish with a 71—for 6 under overall—but Byrne says "my expectations may be changing a little bit."