Australian Stephen Allan grabbed the halfway lead in the TNT Dutch Open yesterday - after only the second shank of his professional career. The 27-year-old from Melbourne had six birdies in a second round 67 at Noordwijkse, but it was his one bogey which had him laughing afterwards.
Having turned in 33, Allan drove to within 40 yards of the green at the 388-yard first - his 10th - but instead of putting the ball close to the flag for another birdie, it came off the clubhead at a horrid angle and finished in a green-side bunker.
His embarrassment was put behind him with another birdie at the very next hole and then two more to lift him onto the nine-under-par total of 135 in the race for the £138,602 first prize.
The 1998 German Open champion, with two top-six finishes in the last six weeks, goes into the third round one ahead of compatriot Stephen Leaney, Swedes Mathias Gronberg and Richard Johnson and also Argentina's Eduardo Romero.
Defending champion Lee Westwood is four behind alongside Ireland's Padraig Harrington, who added a 70 to his first round 69 for his five-under total.
Darren Clarke, knocked off top spot on the European moneylist by Ernie Els' second place at St Andrews, looked to be battling to avoid the halfway cut at level par with five holes to play. But then came three birdies for a 69 and the Ulsterman, six behind Allan, cannot yet be counted out of things.
Meanwhile 19-year-old Justin Rose had a round of 72 for 140 that included a 74-yard pitch into the hole for an eagle two at the 15th, a shot which brought back memories of his finish to the 1998 Open at Birkdale. There he holed from 55 yards on the last for a share of fourth place - the best performance by an amateur in the event since 1953.
"I think this is the first time since then that I've holed a full shot," said the Hampshire youngster, whose professional career started in nightmare fashion with 21 successive missed cuts.
Only 164th in this season's Order of Merit, he has the chance this weekend to save himself from a return to the dreaded tour school in November - but he probably needs to finish in the top four to end his worries.
Romero came with an inch of the fourth albatross of the European season at the 571-yard second. "It was the best eagle in the last 10 years," said the 46-year-old, bidding to become one of the oldest winners in tour history. "I hit the drive right out of the middle 370 yards and then a four-iron which spun back - downwind. It was fantastic."
He could have done with something similar in the closing four holes of The Open last Sunday. Even four pars would have given him a tie for seventh place, but he double-bogeyed the 15th and bogeyed the last three to crash to 35th spot.
Johnson competed in the Swedish skateboarding championships as a youngster, but soon realised he was a little too sane to continue the sport. "You almost have to be a mental case to do some of the stuff," he said. "I came to the limit of what I dared to do and if you are scared you know you are going to die or break a leg or something."
It was only at that point, when he was 15, that he tried golf and in six years he got his handicap to plus three and decided to take the plunge and turn professional. Now, having finished second in the Madeira Island Open in March, the 23-year-old is in the running to be Rookie of the Year.
