Australian Adam Scott stepped up his bid to become the first amateur winner in European Tour history when he shot a second successive 66 to stand just two strokes off the lead at the halfway stage of the Moroccan Open Méditel at Golf d’Amelkis, Marrakech.
Scott, 19, shares second place with Spain’s Ignacio Garrido on 132, 12 under par, going into the weekend while Paraguay’s Pedro Martinez, the first round leader with a 64, tagged a 66 onto his opening effort to blaze the trail on 130, 14 under.
However the focus of attention was Scott, the teenager from Hope Island in Australia’s Gold Coast, who received an invitation to play in Morocco, shares a coach with Tiger Woods in Butch Harmon and has been favourably compared to the World’s No.1 in recent months.
He also showed similarities to Woods in his striking, temperament and mannerisms at Golf d’Amelkis as he produced a blemish-free card which belied his youthful looks and inexperience.
Scott, the son of a professional and esteemed club maker in Australia and a 125-1 shot to lift the title at the start of the tournament, is playing in Europe “to test the water” at the highest level before committing himself to a professional career, probably later this year.
After showing all bar Martinez and Garrido a clean pair of heels in the sun-drenched second round, Scott admitted: “Everybody tells me I swing like Tiger – even Butch says it. I don’t try to copy him, though.
“I’ve been in his company a couple of times and I was supposed to play him at Butch’s home course of Rio Seco in Las Vegas last week but it didn’t happen. Butch says Tiger wimped out!” he joked.
Scott, a slender six footer built along similar lines to Woods, has played in one previous European Tour event, the co-sanctioned Greg Norman Holden International earlier this year in which he finished 29th.
He added: “Greg’s been great to me. I flew with him to a tournament in his private jet and he said if there was ever anything he could do, just give him a call.”
Based on his first two rounds, it seemed likely that the top management companies will soon be giving the soft-spoken youngster a call. Even at the halfway stage he believes he can win if his putter works over the weekend.
Scott has been based in Las Vegas for the last two years following a spell at the University of Nevada. By good fortune, the gambling capital is also Harmon’s base, and he confessed that his coach had “written a nice letter” on his behalf asking for an invite to Morocco and several other European Tour events.
As an amateur he doesn’t qualify for next week’s Peugeot Open de España through a top ten finish, but victory would give him a place in the Tour record books as the first amateur winner. The last to win any European event, before the Tour’s inception, was Ireland’s David Sheehan in the 1962 Jeyes Pro-Am at Royal Dublin.
Martinez, a 150-1 outsider before he teed off on Thursday, kept up the good work. His only bogey in 36 holes came at the par five 15th in his second round but he said: “I am very happy with my form. My driving and iron play are good and if you hit those clubs well, the birdies will follow.”
Ryder Cup player Garrido showed a return to form with a course record-equalling 64 to match Scott’s total of 132. He won a small event north of Madrid last week and admitted his game is getting back to its best.
“I am playing a lot better”he said. “My long game has been good and now the putting is coming. I took a few tips from a young Spanish pro, who told me my alignment was wrong. I’ve squared everything up and it’s much better. I hit all 18 greens today and had birdie chances at every hole.”
England’s Ian Poulter, a graduate from the Qualifying School, maintained his recent good run of form. Poulter finished tied third in Sao Paulo last month and eight birdies in his last 13 holes in the second round propelled him up the leader board to 11 under par with a record-equaling 64. He was joined on that score by Welshman Mark Pilkington, who surged home in 31 for a round of 66.
England’s Jamie Spence and Soren Kjeldsen of Denmark moved into contention on 134, ten under par. Spence added a 68 to his opening 66 while Kjeldsen produced the same scoring but in reverse order.
For Spence it was an exhilarating 24 hours, in which he watched his beloved Arsenal reach the final of the UEFA Cup soon after recording his second hole in one. He laughed: “I’ve had holes in one in my last two tournaments now. In Qatar I recorded my first in 25 years of playing golf, and now I have two to my name. That helped me in the first round while an eagle three at the 15th helped me today.”
