Arnott takes share of Gleneagles lead

06/05/2014

Man-of-the moment Robert Arnott shares the lead with Greg McBain heading into the final two rounds of the £50,000 Gleneagles Scottish PGA Championship.

Arnott (Bishopbriggs Golf Range) and McBain (Kemnay) have posted matching rounds of 69 and 67 on the King’s Course for six-under-par halfway totals to lead by two in the Tartan Tour’s flagship event.

Arnott is enjoying a second wind since turning 50, having arrived in Perthshire on the back of a victory in last week’s inaugural P&H Championship at Dundonald Links.

“You’ve got to take it while it’s going as form doesn’t last that long,” he said after a second-day performance that contained five birdies, the pick of which came at the fourth.

“It felt like an eagle as it took a drive and 3-iron to get home there today,” added the on-form Arnott.

He looked set to take a two-shot cushion into the third round until McBain, who turns 30 later this month, rolled in a 25-footer to eagle the last.

Winner of the 2012 Paul Lawrie Invitational at Deeside, he’s benefitting from having joined David Brown’s staff at Kemnay.

“It has freed up more time for me to both play and practice and my game is pretty good at the moment,” added McBain, who is bidding to improve on a fourth-place finish behind Chris Doak in 2010.

The duo are being chased by a group that contains Paul O’Hara (Clydeway Golf), Mark Kerr (Marriott Dalmahoy) and Christopher Robinson (Portpatrick Dunksey). 

O’Hara is bidding to complete a rare Tartan Tour double, having already claimed the Scottish Young Pros’ title at West Lothian last season.

He has signed for a brace of 69s in Perthshire, where Kerr, who led by three shots at the same stage two years ago, and Robinson carded 70 and 71 respectively in the second round.

In what promises to be an exciting finale, 2008 winner Jason McCreadie (Buchanan Castle) is just three behind along with Christopher Currie (Caldwell) and Gareth Wright (West Linton).

Currie and Wright are both men on missions heading into the last day, having finished runner-up in 2011 and 2013 respectively.

Greig Hutcheon, the defending champion, has his work cut out to join a select group of players to make successful defences of the title. He’s six behind Arnott and McBain after rounds of 69 and 73.

Thirty-four players qualified for the final two circuits after the cut fell at 144, two-over-par.