Golf:Peter Lawrie put himself in a strong position going into the weekend at the Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles today as he carded a 69 to move to seven under and a five-way tie for second spot, one shot behind leader Ignacio Garrido.
An eagle three at the par-five second gave Lawrie the perfect start to his second round, and although he handed back a shot at the third he would make birdies at the ninth and 12th to get to seven under.
A bogey at the 13th was quickly recovered on the next hole and he made par at the closing four holes to finish alongside first-round leader Mark Foster, Kenneth Ferrie, Thomas Bjorn and Lorenzo Gagli of Italy.
Bjorn is anxious to win back a place in the Ryder Cup team next year having last featured in event nine years ago.
“It’s going to be a difficult team to make, but when you get to my age you always hope there’s one more in you,” said Bjorn, who won in Qatar earlier in the year before a good showing at the British Open.
Damien McGrane slipped down the leaderboard to two under after a one-over-par 73, while Simon Thornton (74) and Michael Hoey (71) snuck in on the cutline of level par.
Shane Lowry missed out by one shot after a 73, with Paul McGinley enduring a nightmare 80 on the course where he may lead Europe at the 2014 Ryder Cup to finish on 10 over.
