Since he started up a commanding lead at the halfway stage in 28, bob MacIntyre discovered an excess gear.
After first-round leader Paul Casey struggled to a 73 in early conditions in the Green Eagle Golf Club, MacIntyre took good advantage of the friendlier day weather and fired a great 63.
The Scot stormed to the peak of the leaderboard on 11-under par, four obvious of Bernd Ritthammer, although Casey is now six off the pace because he continued to battle a difficult layout in addition to a throat infection.
MacIntyre has had a rookie year with finishes in May and a tie for sixth at The 148th Open at Royal Portrush, on the Tour, and he is currently in prime position to property his maiden victory on Tour.
The gifted left-hander’s scorecard featured a remarkable 11 threes – half these for birdie, and even though he was not able to pick up shots at the long 15th or 16th, he hit on the final green in 2 and easily two-putted for his seventh birdie of the day.
“I stuck to my game plan,” said the written 23-year-old. “It is probably the best I have driven a chunk – possibly this season. It is not going it’s heading miles. I don’t understand what I am doing so I am just going to try and continue to do it, but it’s working.
“I can only control what I can control and that’s swinging the golf club for every individual shot. That is all I am going to perform over the weekend also and hopefully I can keep the scores coming. It’s going to be tough, particularly when it’s my very first time with such a lead.
“I will have to learn from that adventure, I am only doing the perfect things on the course, doing the correct things off the program. I’m relaxed and nice and everything in the house has been brilliant so I am in the ideal mindset for going out there this weekend”
Ritthammer gave the home fans plenty to cheer late in the day when he birdied three of the last four holes to cap an blemish-free 66 which raised him under and in 2nd position, with Casey alongside Matthias Schwab and Guido Migliozzi on five below.
Casey dropped further shots at 14 and 13 and started with a bogey, before bouncing back in the brief fifth with a two from a second bogey in the next, however he regrouped and clawed two shots back at 18 and 15.
He missed a chance but he had been delighted with his fightback although he was happy about the set up of this course.
“I am really very pleased with just a single over as it’s such a challenging golf course,” Casey said. “Attitude is the secret, I had a fantastic attitude and luckily there were options to produce birdies if you stick with it, however, it’s very tricky.
“Not every course should be simple every week, but if it had been me I’d move up the temptations here because you’re earning far more attention into how this program is performed. Hazards would be more and I’d love to see men going for it a little more. Right now it is very, very hard, almost kind of defensive, which isn’t that enjoyable.”
Xander Schauffele, the highest-ranked participant in the area this week, produced a spirited response to his introduction 73 because he got into red numbers with a four-birdie 69 that lifted the world No 9 to 2 beneath alongside Thomas Pieters, who found water at the last and ran a seven up to sign for a unsatisfactory 72.
Former Masters champion Patrick Reed was two over after five holes over for the championship and staring at a cut that is , however, he dug deep into salvage a 72 that got him firmly into the weekend to par.
But his fellow American Matt Kuchar would fly home early after a second 74 that began with three successive bogeys.
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