Calum Hill revives Singapore Classic challenge with second-round 65

Grant Forrest and Scott Jamieson may be closer to the lead in the Singapore Classic but, with all due respect to them, the best Scottish performance on a weather-hit second day at Laguna National Golf Resort Club came from Calum Hill.

Calum Hill bounced back from an opening 74 to card a brilliant 65 in the second round of the Singapore Classic at Laguna National Golf Resort Club. Picture: Warren Little/Getty Images.

In just his fourth event since making a full-time return to DP World Tour action after only playing three times last year, the 28-year-old found himself in a tie for 110th position following an opening 74 that included four dropped shots in five holes on the back nine.

But, in a brilliant turnaround that saw him comfortably make the cut, Hill catapulted himself up 79 spots on the back of a stunning seven-under-par 65 that was illuminated by a burst of seven straight birdies around the turn.

“I didn’t have two bad holes and figured out how to get a few putts in the hole,” said the 2020 Cazoo Classic winner of his event being transformed in less than 24 hours. “I hit it really good yesterday, I just scored like a blind man.”

Scott Jamieson talks to his caddie Richie Blair during the second round of the Singapore Classic. Picture: Roslan Rahman/AFP via Getty Images.

Hill was level par for the day through seven holes before producing his birdie burst and he’d picked up another shot at the par-3 seventh before dropping a shot at his last hole of the day.

“I hit it close for most of them,” he said of his birdies. “On four and five, I made a 13-footer and a 15-footer, on six I left my 11-footer short on the hill, then I birdied seven, then missed a six-footer on eight, then nine is nine, isn’t it? It’s hard to make a par and I missed a ten-footer for par.”

The Crook of Devon-based player missed the cut in both Abu Dhabi and Ras Al Khaimah but, sandwiched between those mild disappointments, he tied for 13th behind world No 1 Rory McIlroy in Dubai on the circuit’s Middle East Swing.

“It’s nice to be back and to be pretty pain free and not having too much worry with it,” said Hill of the nerve problem he had last year. “I can focus on the golf and work on the game. It’s nice to put myself back somewhere in events and hopefully we’ll have a good weekend and see what happens.”

Grant Forrest tees off on the fourth at Laguna National Golf Resort Club. The Scot will return on Saturday morning to complete his second round in the Singapore Classic. Picture: Yong Teck Lim/Getty Images.

On a day when Northern Ireland rookie Tom McKibbin cemented his place at the top of the leaderboard by backing up an opening 64 with a 69 to sit on 11-under, Hill is six shots adrift but both Forrest and Jamieson are just two off the pace

Forrest, who has started the year strongly, was on his last hole when play was suspended for the day following an earlier weather delay, with Jamieson having made an eagle and 13 birdies in his opening two rounds.

Connor Syme and Richie Ramsay are both set to progress to the final two rounds on three-under, but early exits are on the cards for Ewen Ferguson, Marc Warren and Bob MacIntyre. In a post on social media, MacIntyre summed his current frustration by saying: “Tell you what my putting at the moment is f****** useless.”

Eighteen-year-old Chinese amateur Ding Wenyi will resume his second round sitting alongside McKibbin, the US Junior Amateur champion having made two eagle-2s in the space of six holes.