ROBERT Karlsson set a new course record of 61 and equalled the lowest round of his 20-year Tour career in the Italian Open yesterday.
The Ryder Cup Swede opted for the relatively low-key event rather than golf's richest event – and that despite finishing sixth in the Players Championship last year.
Karlsson, on a two-round total of 129, leads by two from England's Mark Foster
and South African Hennie Otto at halfway.
Marc Warren is the leading Scot, six off the pace after slipping back to a second-round 70 following an opening 65 which had left him one off the lead overnight.
Karlsson's round at Castello di Tolcinasco just south of Milan even included a drive into water on the 433-yard 13th, his fourth.
But the 38-year-old had started with three successive birdies, he then eagled the 15th and first with putts of 30 and 20 feet and when he birdied four of the next six he was 10 under for the day. That meant a birdie-eagle finish on the short eighth and 513-yard ninth would clinch a 59.
"It did cross my mind, but I've had some problems on eight in the past – I was pretty happy with a three there," he said.
A closing 10-foot birdie putt gave Karlsson a 15-under total which matches the third-lowest in Tour history for 36 holes and now his sights are on a win which would lift him from eighth to sixth in the Ryder Cup race. The money on offer may not compare to Sawgrass – £1.3 million against £4.8m – but victory will bring him 24 world ranking points – the same as finishing fourth in Florida.
Nick Dougherty, just three days on from his mother's funeral, lost a ball and took 6 on the par-4 sixth, but he was still round in 66 for seven under. John Daly, however, managed to follow up his 67 with only a 73 for four under and it was 7pm when he discovered he would be involved in the final two rounds for only the third time in 12 starts this season.
• Scotland's Lynn Kenny moved into the top 15 as Sweden's Lotta Wahlin surged into a seven-shot halfway lead in the inaugural Garanti American Express Turkish Ladies' Open at the National Golf Club, Antalya.
Kenny fired a second-round 76
to slip into joint 13th place on seven over par, while the Carrick's Clare Queen had a second successive 78 and was tied for 33rd on ten over par.
The full article contains 440 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
