Andrew Johnston tops leaderboard at the halfway mark

Andrew Johnston carded a bogey-free, 8-under 62 to reach 11-under and take a one-shot lead at the halfway mark at the Austrian Alpine Open.

“Just hit a lot of good shots,” said the Englishman who is based in Australia. “The putter got a bit hot, which I’ve been trying to do now for six months.

“You know, when putts start dropping, it’s a good day.”

Johnston has had a difficult few years impacted by injury. It came out last year that he had had a complete ligament tear and a partial tear in two other tendons in his thumb following earlier misdiagnoses.

“With the injury I looked at stuff that I could personally sort of be better at and I started going back into the gym and I felt really compressed.

“There’s a nice little coffee shop in Perth next door and there’s a yoga place next door and I was like, ‘do you know what? I’m just going to wander in and have a look in, ask a few questions’ and I found this yoga teacher and she has been brilliant.”

Johnston is playing at the Austrian Alpine Open in his tenth start on a medical exemption having been limited to seventeen appearances in the past three years.

He has made the cut in his past four starts including a top-15 finish at the Soudal Open last week. 62 is his lowest score since the 2019 Scottish Open.

Scotland’s Calum Hill made the turn in 29 having made five birdies and an eagle at the par-5 9th but produced two bogeys on the back nine for a 65 and a share of second place at 10-under.

“It started really well,” said Hill. “I feel like the score on this course is the front nine and then the back nine provides a much trickier test, especially the finishing stretch.

“The finishing stretch is strong. Last kind of four holes are really strong. The shots aren’t as easy on the back nine to hit the fairway.

“You have to kind of go over some trees, work around a couple tree lines, so it makes it difficult to hit it in play, and then once you’re out of position, that causes some difficulty because the rough is too thick.

“I played really nice, just lost a couple of shots coming in there and didn’t give myself as close chances on the back nine. But still, five under is a good day.”

Spain’s Rafa Cabrera Bello fired six birdies and two bogeys for a 66 and his share of second place alongside Japan’s Kota Kaneko who made just one bogey for his 65.

Six players are tied in fifth place at 8-under including overnight leader Yanhan Zhou of China who made three birdies and three bogeys for a 70 and England’s Brandon Robinson Thompson who made two bogeys in his 68.

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