Scottish Open: Tyrrell Hatton sets clubhouse target on day of English dominance

Hatton added a second round of 64 to his opening 65 for a halfway total of 11 under par

'I'll take a bit of confidence from that and hopefully have a good weekend' (Getty Images)

Tyrrell Hatton set the clubhouse target as English players dominated the top of the leaderboard in the Aberdeen Standard Investments Scottish Open at Gullane.

Hatton added a second round of 64 to his opening 65 for a halfway total of 11 under par, a shot ahead of compatriot Eddie Pepperell, who missed from six feet on the last for a birdie to equal the course record of 62 set hours earlier by Scotland’s Connor Syme.

Lee Westwood was two shots off the pace following a 67, with former Masters champion Trevor Immelman on eight-under par alongside first-round leader Luke List.

Hatton, who won back-to-back Dunhill Links Championship titles in 2016 and 2017, said: “I’m very happy with that.

“It was not quite how I wanted to play, but overall if I can play like that and score that well that’s obviously really good. So I’ll take a bit of confidence from that and hopefully have a good weekend.”

The 26-year-old, who chipped in on the 15th for one of his six birdies in a blemish-free round, added: “That was a bonus to see that one go in.

“Slightly awkward stance and you hope that you get a good strike and get it close enough to the hole where you can make par and to see it drop was obviously very nice.”

Pepperell finished fourth when the Scottish Open was last staged at Gullane in 2015 and needs another top-10 placing this week to have the chance of claiming one of the three qualifying places on offer in next week’s Open Championship at Carnoustie.

“I’m actually going to be commentating for BBC Five Live for a couple of days if I don’t play,” said Pepperell, who claimed his first European Tour title in Qatar earlier this season.

Lee Westwood was two shots off the pace (Getty)

“Obviously I’d rather be playing but we’ll just wait and see.

“Other than that last putt, which I think was probably more of a mis-read, I felt like I hit a lot of good putts from that range and it was comforting because I haven’t been doing enough of that. The ball-striking was spot on and generally it was an enjoyable round of golf.

“The two similarities between 2015 and now is that I haven’t played a practise round and stayed in Edinburgh both times. That seems to be the secret for me in Gullane, just go out and have nice meals in Edinburgh and drink a bit of wine and come up here and play for four hours.

“It seems to be working. Hopefully it works for two more days.

PA