KEY POINTS:
Even another biblical downpour could not distract the field at the Scottish Open yesterday as an Angel took the lead and three other crowd-pleasers - Phil Mickelson, Paul Lawrie and Thomas Bjorn - made comebacks to rival Lazarus.
Angel Cabrera led on nine under par after carding a
three-under 68 to take a one-shot lead over Ireland's Damien McGrane, whose 66 yesterday put him on eight-under for the tournament. Cabrera is hoping to become the second man from Argentina to triumph on the Bonnie Banks, in the footsteps of his mentor, Eduardo Romero, who won here in 2002.
Lurking in the chasing pack are Lawrie, the 1999 Open winner at Carnoustie who has not won a tour event for six years, and a Bjorn-again Dane, Thomas, the winner here in 1996. Bjorn's multiple illnesses and injuries, most recently a shoulder problem and food poisoning, have had even his fans doubting him.
Lawrie shot a 67 yesterday to move to seven-under overall, the same mark as the Dane, who hit a 68. While that pair seem intent on hauling their careers back on track, Mickelson had the most dramatic turnaround.
After 13 holes he was par for the day and the tournament and on his way to missing the cut. That would not only have been embarrassing but would also have cost him two days' competitive Open practice. But he holed in one at the par-three fifth and followed that with birdie, par, par, birdie for a four-under 67 and a weekend's employment. Ernie Els, after a 66, is also four-under while Lee Westwood's 69 keeps him right in contention.
Mickelson, the leftie world No 2, said that his ace had "kick-started my round, I wasn't doing much at that point". The 38-year-old's five iron from 180m pitched about 6m short and rolled in to huge cheers that alerted the unsighted player as to the fate of his ball.
"I was probably right on the edge of the cut, but it gave me some momentum and I birdied two more holes," he said. "It went over the ridge in the green so I couldn't see it go in."
Bjorn needs a top-five finish here to qualify for the Open, but he is taking nothing for granted yet. He is still getting used to a long putter as a solution to a bad case of the yips. "It feels awkward," he said. "It is all right on the practice green but when you go out and play with it for the first time in a tournament you feel a bit strange out there. It is starting to feel better and it is certainly better than the short one at the moment."
Lawrie was understandably delighted to be going into today's third round in contention. His last Tour win was the Wales Open of 2002 and he admitted yesterday that even his wife, Marian, and his sons, Craig and Robert, give him a hard time when he is not winning.
"Oh, you'd better believe it," he said. "By God, daddy's been useless for a while so it would be nice to get a win on the board to shut them up a wee bit."
The Aberdonian is currently ranked No 264 in the world and has not had a top 10 finish anywhere this season.
Luke Donald has withdrawn from the Open at Royal Birkdale because of a wrist injury. "I consider the Open to be at the top of the list of the four biggest tournaments I play each year, so it is obviously extremely disappointing to not be able to be there," he said.
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