Lawrence holding on at the top

Unheralded South African Nic Lawrence continued his unexpected good form in the early stages of the second round of the Dunhill Links Championship today.

Lawrence, 21, birdied his third hole after starting at the 10th at Kingsbarns to move alongside Eduardo Romero of Argentina at the top of the leaderboard on seven under par.

Romero and the other pacesetters had not begun their rounds when Lawrence, who shot a 66 at Carnoustie on Thursday, set off in conditions not as good for scoring as they were a day earlier.

It was cool with a fresh wind this morning and there was rain in the area which could affect the later starters.

The big names were mostly playing at Kingsbarns on Friday, one of the three courses being used for the €5m (€5.4m) pro-am event. The others are Carnoustie and the Old Course at St Andrews.

The final round on Sunday will be on the Old Course.

Padraig Harrington and Thomas Bjorn were the best of the victorious Ryder Cup team on Thursday, shooting 66 and 67 respectively at Carnoustie to be one and two strokes off the lead.

But the two South Africans heading the hunt for the Order of Merit title, Retief Goosen and Ernie Els, both have work to do on Friday to get into the chase for the €870,000 first prize at this event.

Goosen, who topped last year’s money list, holds a slight lead over Els, who is at a further disadvantage because he does not plan to play in any more counting events this season after the birth of his second child.

Goosen carded an opening 70 at Carnoustie while Els had to settle for a 72 at the same course, the fearsome venue for the 1999 Open which surprisingly yielded five of the best seven scores yesterday.