Swedish rising star Ludvig Aberg powered to the top of the Scottish Open leaderboard after the second round on Friday.
Aberg carded a second successive round of 64 to move into first place with a one-shot lead over Frenchman Antoine Rozner.
The 24-year-old went bogey free and notched six birdies as he reached 12 under par at the Renaissance Club.
Rozner, who has yet to drop a shot this week, added a 64 to his opening round of 65 in the warm-up event ahead of next week’s Open at Royal Troon.
Italy’s Matteo Manassero and South Korea’s Im Sung-jae were both on 10 under after rounds of 63 and 67 respectively.
Aberg carded six birdies on day two and felt his mentality was the key on the links-style test of Renaissance.
“It’s been very nice,” he said. “I felt like we’ve had a very good game plan and executed the shots.
“We try not to force anything. We try to have a lot of acceptance when we play and make sure that we put good swings on it and give ourselves plenty of chances, which I felt like we’ve done very well.
“There’s what, 150-something players in the field? No one is going to play perfect golf for 72 holes.
“All I can do is try to put good swings on it and then hopefully the decision that we’ve made is the right one and try to hit it again when we find it.”
First-round leader Justin Thomas slumped with a two-over 72 to fall six shots off the pace, while Rory McIlroy carded a round of 66 to reach nine under par as he bids to bounce back from his US Open meltdown.
South Africa’s Erik van Rooyen was on six under (T24) after a bogey-free round of 67 that included three birdies.
Dylan Frittelli, Thriston Lawrence, Louis de Jager and Ockie Strydom all missed the cut, while Christiaan Bezuidenhout withdrew after playing just two holes on Friday.
© Agence France-Presse & DP World website
Photo: Andrew Redington/Getty Images
