Stephen Gray leads in Aberdeen Standard Investments Scottish Par 3 Championship

Stephen Gray upstaged two major winners and a handful of European Tour card holders to lead at the halfway stage in the Aberdeen Standard Investments Scottish Par 3 Championship in Aberdeen.

Playing in the last of three waves on a day when winds gusted to over 30mph, the former Tartan Tour Order of Merit winner recovered from an opening bogey to card a two-under 52 for two circuits on the Devenick Course at the Paul Lawrie Golf Centre. 

That earned Gray, who is attached to Lanark, a two-shot lead over Englishman David Dixon, with Dixon's giant compatriot, Jonathan Thomson, sitting third on 55 alongside two-time European Tour winner Alastair Forsyth and Craig Lawrie, Paul's eldest son.

Enjoying the best of the conditions, though still far from easy, Gray carded four 2s, including one the eighth first time around courtesy of a 3-iron to around 12 feet. 

“The scores don’t lie, they show we had it a little better," he said of getting a break with the weather as the wind sent scores soaring on a fun but tricky course beside the River Dee. 

“The leaders in the morning were three over, David Dixon was level in the second flight so I’m quite happy as I didn’t know what to expect. 

“I just went out and played golf, had a nice game and hit my shots. Tomorrow’s forecast is better, so I’ll probably have to play better." 

Dixon, a member of the first Great Britain & Ireland side to win the PGA Cup on US soil at CordeValle in California in 2015, is hoping this event is the first leg of a Scottish double-header over the coming days. 

"I could have been in France for the Challenge Tour event this week but Paul Lawrie texted me about this event a couple of weeks ago and I really fancied it," said the 41-ywar-old Somerset man. 

"I love playing golf in Scotland and I am hoping to get into next week's Scottish Challenge in Aviemore, sitting 11th reserve at the moment." 

Tournament host Lawrie had a 59 in the company of last weekend's Shot Clock Masters runner-up Connor Syme, who opened with a 57.

Michael Campbell, the other major winner in the field, is 13 shots off the lead after the 2005 US Open champion had to settle for a 65.

The field contains seven female professionals and Vikki Laing fared best among that contingent with a 58 to sit joint-12th.