STEPHEN GALLACHER'S hopes of another good showing on home soil suffered a blow in the Alfred Dunhill Links championship yesterday as the Lothians contingent all found the going tough during the second round of the lucrative Pro-Am contest, writes NICK RODGER.
While Helensburgh's Garry Orr heads the Scottish assault in a share of sixth spot, Gallacher, whose best finishes of the year have been at the Scottish Open at Loch Lomond and the Johnnie Walker at Gleneagles, slithered backwards with a damaging four
-over 76 at Carnoustie to finish with a two-over halfway total of 146.
The Bathgate player, who won the Dunhill Links title in 2004, had been looking to build on a solid opening 70 at the Old course on Thursday but the wheels came off his round over the Angus links during a desperate spell around the turn where he spilled five shots in four holes. Gallacher's Lothians colleague David Drysdale also endured a turbulent day at Carnoustie as the Dunbar man emerged with 76 for a four-over 148.
The 33-year-old, who was three-over at the turn, managed to haul himself back to level after a surge which included an eagle-three at the long 12th but a calamitous finish of four straight bogeys saw the former Challenge Tour winner topple down the field.
Lloyd Saltman's grim run of missed cuts looks set to continue as he finished down in the lower reaches of the standings on a ten-over 154 after a torrid day at Kingsbarns in which he carded a nine-over 81.
The top 60 and ties after today's third round will compete in tomorrow's closing round and Saltman, as well as the rest of the local hopefuls, will need to dig deep if they are to secure a tee-time for the concluding 18 holes.
The full article contains 316 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
