Not even a quadruple bogey eight could prevent Lloyd Saltman from retaining his clubhouse lead at the halfway stage of day two Kärnten Golf Open presented by Mazda.
The Scotsman was three under for the day and cruising through his second round at the Jacques Lemans Golf Club when he stood on the par four fifth tee, his 14th hole of the round. His only bad swing of the day proved costly as his drive flew out of bounds.
The resulting eight saw the 27 year old drop four strokes in one fatal swoop, but he did what all good players do in the face of such adversity by producing a magnificent recovery, birdieing his last three holes to add a second round 69 to his eight under 63 from day one and establish a two stoke clubhouse lead over Irishman Liam Kearny, England’s Lloyd Kennedy and Austrian Roland Steiner.
“It was certainly an adventurous end to the round,” smiled Saltman, a former Walker Cup team mate of World Number Two Rory Mcilroy.
“I was cruising along nicely having got off to another great start and was four under for my front nine. I dropped a shot on the first, my tenth hole of the day, but that was alright until I got to the fifth tee.
“My only real bad shot of the day put me in real trouble though. The drive went out of bounds – it was actually next to the horses the farm next to the course! I kind of thought it would be better to leave that ball to the horses and start again.
“I just made a mess of the hole – simple as that – but I was really pleased to finish the way I did. To make three birdies after a quad was really satisfying and I suppose it does kind of give an indication that I am playing well and generally swinging it really nicely.
“I have had a few rounds recently where I have started well and then had a poor second round and kind of just faded out of tournaments, so it was really important to recover my momentum the way I did today.
“I am excited about the weekend now and very much looking forward to trying to get out there tomorrow and keep going in the right direction. This is why we play the game: to get in amongst it at the weekend.”
