Golf: Laing left looking for a birdie blitz

VIKKI LAING set out in today's final round of the Aberdeen Ladies' Scottish Open eyeing another birdie blitz - but cutting out the costly mistakes at the same time.

The 29-year-old from Musselburgh has five birdies in her second round on the Fidra course at Archerfield Links yesterday.

But her hopes of being among the leaders going into the closing 18 holes on her own doorstep were dashed by some untidy play elsewhere.

She had two bogeys and two double-bogeys, which all added up to a second successive 74 and a four-over par total, six shots behind leader Jeehae Lee from Korea.

Starting at the first, Laing was out in 36, level-par, before making a significant move up the leaderboard following back-to-back birdies at the tenth and 11th.

She then undid that good work with a 6 at the 12th before making headway again thanks to a birdie at the 15th only to drop three shots over the closing three holes.

"I took a double-bogey 6 at the 16th, where I found a bunker off the tee and had to hit out sideways before three-putting," she reported.

"I also three-putted the 17th and then missed from 15 feet for a birdie at the last.

"My putting was patchy. I holed a few to get my birdies but also had a total of three three-putts."

Despite having a fair bit of ground to make up over 18 holes, Laing, the leading Scot on the LET money-list this season, insisted she was still in with a chance of landing a top prize of just over 25,000.

"There's a six or seven-under to be had out there," she added. "I'm surprised someone hasn't shot that yet, to be honest.

"It's a boost for me that hasn't happened and hopefully I can go out in the final round and pick up some birdies while, at the same time, cut out those costly double-bogeys."

Lee, a 27-year-old from Seoul who now lives in Orlando, leapfrogged Trish Johnson, the overnight leader, at the top of the scoreboard after a second-round 70 - the joint-best score of the day.

That put her on two-under for the tournament, a shot ahead of Johnson, who dropped three shots in a row on her back nine - at the sixth, seventh and eighth.

"I kept it pretty steady on the front nine," said the new leader. "There were a couple of the par-5s that I could reach. On the back nine I started hitting it a little bit off line off the tee but managed my way around."