David Drysdale stays in hunt for title as five Scots survive PGA cut

AFTER such promising signs on the opening day, only five Scots from a starting line-up of 13 are still standing at Wentworth with two rounds to go.

David Drysdale, the joint-overnight leader, remains in the mix, sharing second spot with world No 2 Lee Westwood, while Paul Lawrie, Colin Montgomerie, Marc Warren and Scott Jamieson are the others guaranteed pay-days tomorrow.

A two-under 70 represented another good day’s work from Drysdale, especially as the Borderer reckoned he hadn’t hit any heights. “I probably couldn’t have shot any lower than 70 today,” he reported of an effort that ended once again with a birdie.

The 4 that went down on the card this time, though, was more straightforward than the previous day, when his ball jumped out of the water at the side of the green.

“I’m definitely in a good position and now it’s a case of just trying to keep doing what I’ve been doing and not getting ahead of myself,” added the 37-year-old, who has twice finished runner-up on the European Tour but is now set for the biggest test of his career over the next two days.

Churning out one good round after another at the moment, Lawrie signed for a fine 71 – it was chiselled in the tougher afternoon conditions – that moved him into a tie for 17th on four-under.

“My driver broke yesterday,” he revealed afterwards. “As I placed it back into the bag on the 11th tee, I managed to break it! It was right at the neck so I went to the TaylorMade van after the round and they put another shaft it. It’s the same one I had and I hit it lovely today.”

The former Open champion recovered well for the second day running, this time bouncing back from a double-bogey 6 at the sixth, where his ball took a bad bounce into a fairway bunker. “The older you get the more you get used to stuff like that,” he said. “I was extremely unhappy going to the seventh tee but you dust yourself down and get on with it.”

Montgomerie, a three-time Wentworth winner, was also heading for a place inside the top 20 until he had back-to-back bogeys at the 14th and 15th then also dropped a shot at the last. “Very disappointed,” he declared after a 74 to stand one-under. “I’ve come back in 40, so that’s no good.”

Martin Laird, Scotland’s top-ranked player, missed the cut on his Wentworth debut after a 75 for 148.