England’s Nick Dougherty continued his bid to become the latest member of the Walker Cup “Class of 2001” to win a professional tournament when he opened up a three stroke lead at the halfway stage of the Scandic Carlsberg Scandinavian Masters at Barsebäck Golf and Country Club, Malmo, Sweden.
Dougherty added a three under par 69 to his opening 67 for an eight under par total of 136, three ahead of Luke Donald of England, Maarten Lafeber of the Netherlands and another Englishman, past Ryder Cup Captain, Mark James.
Donald, who shot a round of 68 late in the day to move into a tie for second place, played alongside Dougherty in the winning Walker Cup side at Ocean Forest, Georgia, two years ago. Already, Donald has claimed a victory on the US PGA Tour, while Graeme McDowell from Northern Ireland is defending the title he won 12 months ago.
Another member of the side, Jamie Elson, has won on the European Challenge Tour.
Now Dougherty aims to take his place among the list of winners, having finished his first season on The European Tour as the Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year. Just recovering from a bout of glandular fever which induces a feeling of fatigue, Dougherty proved he was wide awake on the golf course.
Dougherty slept for almost 18 hours on Wednesday evening as a side-effect of suffering from the illness, but woke up in time to card an opening 67 for a share of the lead. After a fine performance with birdies at three of the par fives, he was out on his own with a three shot cushion.
Dougherty dropped a shot on his opening hole, the tenth, but birdied the 16th and missed a good chance for birdie on the 18th to be out in 36. The dog-leg par four first hole is one of the toughest on the course but Dougherty made it look easy with a drive and six iron from 186 yards to within three feet for a simple birdie.
Another birdie followed at the fifth then he reached the ninth hole, where 140 yards have been added to make it into a par five. Dougherty was unable to reach in two but pitched superbly to five feet and holed the putt for a closing birdie and remain on course for his maiden title.
His best finish so far has been second to Adam Scott in the Qatar Masters in a debut season, but a third place just two shots behind winner Stephen Leaney in the Linde German Masters later in 2002 convinced him he should be winning tournaments by now - at the age of 21.
Dougherty said: ``I got off to a bit of a shaky start and it was not as pretty to watch as yesterday, but sometimes these kind of rounds are more satisfying than when you're playing lovely.
``I was up at 5.30am and I'm not a morning person but I feel pretty good and in the position I'm in I should be able to get my usual 16 hours sleep in tonight!”
Donald, playing in his third successive tournament on The European Tour, bagged six birdies in his round of 68 to climb into a tie for second place by his former amateur team-mate while James, 50 in October, has an opportunity to become the oldest winner on the Tour following a round of 70.
Peter Hedblom, beaten in a play-off by Michael Campbell for last week’s Nissan Irish Open, maintained his run of fine form with a second successive 70 to share fifth place with fellow countryman, Robert Karlsson (71-69).
Campbell is still a factor on 142, two under par, after shooting a level par 72 while defending champion McDowell made the halfway cut, but with only two strokes to spare on 145 after a 72.
