Richie Ramsay lurking again as Dale Whitnell leads way in Scandinavian Mixed

Dale Whitnell’s career-best 61 may have earned the Englishman a commanding six-shot lead at the halfway stage in the Scandinavian Mixed but Richie Ramsay is lurking for a third event in a row on the DP World Tour.

Richie Ramsay mulls over a shot with caddie Scott Carmichael during the Volvo Car Scandinavian Mixed at Ullna Golf & Country Club in Sweden. Picture: Matthew Lewis/Getty Images.

Whitnell, who is chasing a breakthrough win in his 106th event on the circuit, backed up an opening 66 that was rounded off by a hole out from 96 yards for an eagle-2 with a stunning nine-under-par effort in the second circuit at Ulna Golf & Country Club in Sweden to sit on 17-under-par.

"The golf course is gettable if you give it a bit of discipline,” said the 34-year-old, who has negotiated the opening 36 holes without a single blemish on his cards. “if you try and bite off a bit more than you can chew you will get punished, so I've just got to keep that in mind going into the weekend."

German Yannick Paul, who is just outside the automatic selection spots for the Ryder Cup in September, leads the chase on 11-under after opening scores of 65-68, with four-time tour winner Ramsay a further shot back in third place.

For the second day running, the Edinburgh-based Aberdonian eagled the par-15th, holing a 60-footer on this occasion then adding birdies at the closing two holes as he added a 66 to his first-day 68.

“That hole has been very kind to me so hopefully I keep that run up,” said a smiling Ramsay, who, after a sluggish start to the 2023 campaign, is beginning to show the consistency that has been a hallmark of his game since winning the US Amateur 17 years ago.

“Game is in really good shape,” he added. “I feel pretty good, just trying to do stuff that makes me happy. I’ve been a little downbeat on myself the last few weeks, so a lot of positives. Tomorrow is a new day, though. I just need to continue doing what I am doing.”

Disappointingly given 12 started out, Marc Warren (three-under) and David Law (one-under) were the only other Scots to progress to the weekend, when the home crowds will be delighted to see defending champion Linn Grant (three-under) and Alex Noren (two-under) still in action but not Annika Sorenstam after a second-round 81 saw her make an early exit.

On the domestic front, Graham Fox holed a lengthy birdie putt on the final green at Moray Golf Club in Lossiemouth to clinch a dramatic first victory in the Arnold Clark Tartan Tour’s Northern Open.

The 45-year-old, who’d held a slender one-shot lead after Thursday’s opening round, battled to level-par 71 in the second and final circuit for a two-under aggregate of 140 and a one stroke victory over the two-time winner Paul O’Hara.

“It must have been 60-odd feet,” said Fox, a West Kilbride man who is attached to Clydeway Golf. “You try to get the pace right and, luckily enough, it curled in with the last roll of the ball.”

In the amateur ranks, Nairn’s Callum Scott sits handily-placed, just two shots off the lead, after an opening four-under 68 in the St Andrews Links Trophy but fellow Walker Cup squad member Connor Graham is well down the field after his disappointing 76 on the New Course.