Craig Lee battled blustery conditions at Newmachar Golf Club to move to the top of the leaderboard alongside overnight leader Nathan Kimsey after the second day of the Farmfoods Scottish Challenge supported by The R&A.
The 45-year-old Scot, who won the Scottish Boys Stroke Play in 1995, carded a two under par round of 69 to reach seven under and join Kimsey at the summit, one-stroke clear of Englishman Todd Clements and Switzerland’s Marco Iten.
Lee was thrilled to please the home crowd and believes his experience of adapting to windy conditions has played a key role in his success over the opening two rounds in Scotland.
“It was a very tough day out there,” he said. “It was so gusty and I had to figure out which way the wind was blowing and trust myself. I hit a lot of good golf shots out there and I’m delighted to move to the top of the leaderboard. I’m in a good position heading into the weekend.
“Yesterday I was quite fortunate to play in the morning and avoid the high winds, however today it was brutal from the off. Being from Scotland I am used to these conditions, and I’ve put some new equipment in recently which has held up well in the wind.
“You have to control the flight and spin as much as you can because if you get it moving the wrong way and the wind catches it, you can be playing from the trees. It’s a mental battle because you don’t get any breathing space out there.”
Co-leader Kimsey carded two birdies and two bogeys in a level par round and was grateful for his short game, which enabled him to save par on several occasions throughout the day.
“It was a lot tougher out there today,” he said. “I had to rely on my short game to keep making pars and I’m pretty happy with a level par round in the end. There were high cross-winds today and if you got it slightly wrong it could make you look silly.”
Denmark’s Martin Simonsen, Spaniards Pedro Oriol and Javier Sainz, Welshman David Boote and Germany’s Bernd Ritthammer share fifth place on five under par, while Sweden’s Christofer Blomstrand, Englishman Tom Sloman and Switzerland’s Jeremy Freiburghaus are a shot further back on four under.
The third round of the Farmfoods Scottish Challenge supported by The R&A will begin at 8:00am local time, with Lee and Kimsey teeing it up alongside Iten at 12:23pm.
