Paul Lawrie let down by putts as Italian Open lead slips

SCOTLAND'S Paul Lawrie endured a frustrating second round at the Italian Open in Turin as the joint overnight leader added a 73 to his opening 67 to fall back to four under par, four shots off the pace set by Swede Fredrik Andersson Hed.

Lawrie was level par for the day until dropping a shot on the ninth, his final hole, after missing the fairway from the tee and being forced to pitch out.

Asked how frustrated he was, the former Open champion said: "On a scale of 1-10, about 15. I played much better than yesterday from tee to green but just couldn't get the ball in the hole and any poor shot I hit I got punished severely.

"It was the polar opposite of yesterday. I hit an awful lot of good shots and missed a lot of putts but there's not much you can do. You're going to get days where you don't get what you deserve and vice versa."

The best-placed Scot was former Scottish Amateur champion Andrew McArthur who overcame testing conditions to shot a second round 66 to go five under.

As part of a strong challenge from these shores, both Peter Whiteford and Andrew Coltart joined Lawrie on the four under mark following rounds of 71 and 70 respectively.

Alistair Forsyth also shot a 70 to go to three under par for the tournament but there was disappointment for David Drysdale whose good work in shooting a 68 on the opening day was undone by a 74 yesterday.

Richie Ramsey kept on the sunny side of the cut by hitting a 71 to go even par but Scots packing their bags this weekend include Ryder Cup captain Colin Montgomerie, Scott Drummond and Stephen Gallacher.

At the top of the leaderboard Hed leads the way with Spain's Miguel Angel Jimenez and compatriots Alejandro Canizares and Ignacio Garrido, Belgium's Nicolas Colsaerts and South African Hennie Otto a shot behind.

Teenage star Matteo Manassero is just four off the lead on his professional debut after consecutive rounds of 70 on his home turf.

Manassero outscored playing partner Montgomerie by eight shots and would have only been only two off the lead if not for a double bogey on 16. "It's a great feeling," said Manassero.