Nicolas Colsaerts shot a 65 at the Old Course at St Andrews on Thursday and followed it up with another at Carnoustie on Friday to take a share of the lead at 14-under in the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.
The Belgian has been playing Carnoustie since first coming to this event in 2004 and felt his experience paid off.
“I’ve been playing pretty well since yesterday. St Andrews, I really plotted my way around,” said Colsaerts.
“But here, it requires a little bit more local knowledge. Having played in this (event) definitely helps.
“Didn’t really get off to the best of starts. I was more agitated and I didn’t hit the shots that I wanted. Then I started to get on a roll and birdied the ninth, which is not a hole that you birdie usually, and then went a couple on the spin, which was great, and kept it going.
“I birdied the 17th, which is also a hole you don’t really birdie at Carnoustie. So yeah, it all fitted together.”
Australia’s Cameron John double bogeyed the par-5 5th at Kingsbarns and closed with a 68 for a share of the lead.
“It’s just fun. You don’t get it a lot back home, the odd course that plays similar but nothing quite the same.
“And that’s kind of just the outlook of the week, just enjoy it, take it all in, walking up 18, it’s always pretty special, so just remember it,” concluded John.
Overnight leader Darren Fichardt of South Africa stayed bogey-free at Kingsbarns but made just two birdies at the par-4s 3rd and 4th for a 70 and moved down into a share of third place at 13-under.
Also tied in third place after the second round at Kingsbarns is Scotland’s David Law who shot a bogey-free 67.
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| Pos. | Player | To Par | R1 | R2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | COLSAERTS, Nicolas | -14 | 65 | 65 |
| | JOHN, Cameron | -14 | 62 | 68 |
| 3 | FICHARDT, Darren | -13 | 61 | 70 |
| | LAW, David | -13 | 64 | 67 |
| 5 | DANTORP, Jens | -12 | 64 | 68 |
| | WILLIAMS, Robin | -12 | 66 | 66 |
| | HILLIER, Daniel | -12 | 63 | 69 |
| | LUITEN, Joost | -12 | 67 | 65 |
| 9 | VAILLANT, Tom | -11 | 64 | 69 |
| | FLEETWOOD, Tommy | -11 | 68 | 65 |
| HATTON, Tyrrell | -11 | 65 | 68 | |
| | ASHFIELD, James | -11 | 64 | 69 |
| 13 | UIHLEIN, Peter | -10 | 69 | 65 |
| | LAPORTA, Francesco | -10 | 66 | 68 |
| | CAMPILLO, Jorge | -10 | 67 | 67 |
| | PAUL, Yannik | -10 | 68 | 66 |
| | PREMLALL, Yurav | -10 | 66 | 68 |
| | MANSELL, Richard | -10 | 69 | 65 |
| | SYME, Connor | -10 | 67 | 67 |
| | BESARD, Matthis | -10 | 67 | 67 |
| | MICHELUZZI, David | -10 | 64 | 70 |
| 22 | GRACE, Branden | -9 | 67 | 68 |
| | HØJGAARD, Rasmus | -9 | 70 | 65 |
| | KOEPKA, Brooks | -9 | 71 | 64 |
| | JAMIESON, Scott | -9 | 63 | 72 |
| SOUTHGATE, Matthew | -9 | 64 | 71 | |
| | SMITH, Jordan | -9 | 68 | 67 |
| | SADDIER, Adrien | -9 | 65 | 70 |
| 29 | BALDWIN, Matthew | -8 | 67 | 69 |
| | ZANOTTI, Fabrizio | -8 | 69 | 67 |
| | PUTNAM, Andrew | -8 | 67 | 69 |
| | LI, Haotong | -8 | 67 | 69 |
| | ROTTLUFF, Maximilian | -8 | 69 | 67 |
| | PARRY, John | -8 | 65 | 71 |
| | RAHM, Jon | -8 | 65 | 71 |
| | OTAEGUI, Adrian | -8 | 67 | 69 |
| 37 | BURMESTER, Dean | -7 | 69 | 68 |
| | WALLACE, Matt | -7 | 71 | 66 |
| | HARRINGTON, Padraig | -7 | 67 | 70 |
| | CLEMENTS, Todd | -7 | 66 | 71 |
| | OLESEN, Thorbjørn | -7 | 67 | 70 |
| | CROCKER, Sean | -7 | 67 | 70 |
| | FISHER, Ross | -7 | 67 | 70 |
| | BROWN, Daniel | -7 | 67 | 70 |
| | COLETTA, Brett | -7 | 69 | 68 |
| | ENEFER, Will | -7 | 69 | 68 |
| | FORREST, Grant | -7 | 69 | 68 |
| | FITZPATRICK, Alex | -7 | 70 | 67 |
| 49 | MCILROY, Rory | -6 | 69 | 69 |
| | HORSCHEL, Billy | -6 | 70 | 68 |
| JONES, Sam | -6 | 67 | 71 | |
| | REED, Patrick | -6 | 70 | 68 |
| | KANG, Sung | -6 | 68 | 70 |
| | JORDAN, Matthew | -6 | 68 | 70 |
| | SVENSSON, Jesper | -6 | 68 | 70 |
| | LAWRENCE, Thriston | -6 | 68 | 70 |
| | HANNA, Chase | -6 | 70 | 68 |
| | MCBRIDE, Kade | -6 | 69 | 69 |
| | FORSSTRÖM, Simon | -6 | 66 | 72 |
| | ARNAUS, Adri | -6 | 67 | 71 |
| | SCHAPER, Jayden | -6 | 71 | 67 |
| | MCKIBBIN, Tom | -6 | 70 | 68 |
| | KIEFFER, Maximilian | -6 | 66 | 72 |
| | PUIG, David | -6 | 68 | 70 |
| | LOWRY, Shane | -6 | 68 | 70 |
| | CELLI, Filippo | -6 | 65 | 73 |
| | NEERGAARD-PETERSEN, Rasmus | -6 | 68 | 70 |
| | SCALISE, Lorenzo | -6 | 69 | 69 |
| | GUMBERG, Jordan | -6 | 67 | 71 |
| 70 | FRIEDRICHSEN, Sebastian | -5 | 69 | 70 |
| | SCHWAB, Matthias | -5 | 68 | 71 |
| | NICHOLAS, James | -5 | 68 | 71 |
| | ALBERTSE, Louis | -5 | 71 | 68 |
| | ZUNIC, Jordan | -5 | 70 | 69 |
| | HARDING, Justin | -5 | 69 | 70 |
| | FITZPATRICK, Matt | -5 | 68 | 71 |
| | MACINTYRE, Robert | -5 | 67 | 72 |
| | HILL, Calum | -5 | 73 | 66 |
| | SÖDERBERG, Sebastian | -5 | 68 | 71 |
| | AIKEN, Thomas | -5 | 72 | 67 |
| | NIENABER, Wilco | -5 | 69 | 70 |
| | WIEBE, Gunner | -5 | 68 | 71 |
| | PAVON, Matthieu | -5 | 70 | 69 |
| | DAFFUE, MJ | -5 | 68 | 71 |
| | ARMITAGE, Marcus | -5 | 69 | 70 |
| | WALTERS, Justin | -5 | 71 | 68 |
| 87 | FAHRBRING, Jens | -4 | 68 | 72 |
| | KOBORI, Kazuma | -4 | 70 | 70 |
| | WILSON, Andrew | -4 | 63 | 77 |
| | DE JAGER, Louis | -4 | 70 | 70 |
| | MANLEY, Stuart | -4 | 69 | 71 |
| | KJELDSEN, Søren | -4 | 67 | 73 |
| | SCHOTT, Freddy | -4 | 69 | 71 |
| | ROCK, Robert | -4 | 72 | 68 |
| 95 | OOSTHUIZEN, Louis | -3 | 72 | 69 |
| | WINTHER, Jeff | -3 | 69 | 72 |
| | GOOCH, Talor | -3 | 67 | 74 |
| | BEKKER, Oliver | -3 | 68 | 73 |
| | BARKER, Kyle | -3 | 68 | 73 |
| | WHITNELL, Dale | -3 | 66 | 75 |
| SHINKWIN, Callum | -3 | 70 | 71 | |
| | LEWIS, Tom | -3 | 66 | 75 |
| | LEWTON, Stephen | -3 | 71 | 70 |
| | HØJGAARD, Nicolai | -3 | 70 | 71 |
| | DEAN, Joe | -3 | 70 | 71 |
| | HIDALGO, Angel | -3 | 73 | 68 |
| | BRADBURY, Dan | -3 | 70 | 71 |
| | WILSON, Oliver | -3 | 68 | 73 |
| | GALLACHER, Stephen | -3 | 71 | 70 |
| | APHIBARNRAT, Kiradech | -3 | 66 | 75 |
| 111 | KAMINSKI, Rupert | -2 | 68 | 74 |
| | LEE, Richard T | -2 | 70 | 72 |
| | NOREN, Alex | -2 | 71 | 71 |
| | FRITTELLI, Dylan | -2 | 70 | 72 |
| | HOWELL, David | -2 | 70 | 72 |
| | ROZNER, Antoine | -2 | 68 | 74 |
| | STONE, Brandon | -2 | 69 | 73 |
| | SORDET, Clément | -2 | 70 | 72 |
| | WILLETT, Danny | -2 | 70 | 72 |
| | LONG, Hurly | -2 | 69 | 73 |
| | CANTERO, Ivan | -2 | 72 | 70 |
| | BAIRSTOW, Sam | -2 | 67 | 75 |
| | KRUYSWIJK, Jacques | -2 | 72 | 70 |
| | HUIZING, Daan | -2 | 73 | 69 |
| | JONES, Matt | -2 | 72 | 70 |
| | NORGAARD, Niklas | -2 | 70 | 72 |
| | DE BRUYN, Jannik | -2 | 72 | 70 |
| | GALE, Daniel | -2 | 68 | 74 |
| | CABRERA BELLO, Rafa | -2 | 71 | 71 |
| | ELVIRA, Nacho | -2 | 74 | 68 |
| | PEPPERELL, Eddie | -2 | 68 | 74 |
| | PRINSLOO, Jaco | -2 | 69 | 73 |
| | TARRIO, Santiago | -2 | 70 | 72 |
| | CHEN, Guxin | -2 | 70 | 72 |
| 135 | RAMA, Nikhil | -1 | 69 | 74 |
| | VAN VELZEN, Ryan | -1 | 73 | 70 |
| | VAN DRIEL, Darius | -1 | 72 | 71 |
| | GAVINS, Daniel | -1 | 73 | 70 |
| 139 | CHACARRA, Eugenio | Par | 73 | 71 |
| | JARVIS, Casey | Par | 73 | 71 |
| | DETRY, Thomas | Par | 74 | 70 |
| | BARKER, Lachlan | Par | 76 | 68 |
| | MORRISON, James | Par | 69 | 75 |
| | BROWN, Barclay | Par | 70 | 74 |
| | SURRATT, Caleb | Par | 67 | 77 |
| | MIGLIOZZI, Guido | Par | 73 | 71 |
| | PARATORE, Renato | Par | 72 | 72 |
| | PENGE, Marco | Par | 75 | 69 |
| | DAVIDSON, Jack | Par | 71 | 73 |
| | SHARMA, Shubhankar | Par | 72 | 72 |
| | DALZIEL, Greg | Par | 70 | 74 |
| | DE VILLIERS, Jacques P | Par | 71 | 73 |
| 153 | MAGUIRE, Alex | +1 | 74 | 71 |
| 154 | BORIBOONSUB, David | +2 | 73 | 73 |
| | CHOUHAN, Om Prakash | +2 | 71 | 75 |
| | COETZEE, George | +2 | 71 | 75 |
| | GOUVEIA, Ricardo | +2 | 73 | 73 |
| 158 | LARRAZÁBAL, Pablo | +3 | 72 | 75 |
| | BOTHA, Barend | +3 | 76 | 71 |
| | ELVIRA, Manuel | +3 | 71 | 76 |
| 161 | GRIFFIN, Matthew | +5 | 76 | 73 |
| 162 | SWAFFORD, Hudson | +6 | 77 | 73 |
| | GARCIA, Sebastian | +6 | 74 | 76 |
| | GIRRBACH, Joel | +6 | 76 | 74 |
| | ZHENG, Sampson-yunhe | +6 | 74 | 76 |
| 166 | LAGERGREN, Joakim | +8 | 75 | 77 |
| | BACHEM, Nick | +8 | 73 | 79 |
| 168 | CARTER, Jak | +9 | 75 | 78 |
Simon Bale
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