Lafeber leads at Scottish Open

Loch Lomond:

A career-low round of 63 put Maarten Lafeber at the top of the leader-board at the halfway stage in the Scottish Open at Loch Lomond. The early pace was set by 29 year-old Scot Alastair Forsyth, who shot eight birdies around the turn on his way to a seven under par round of 64. Forsyth's two round total of 132 put him on ten under for the championship, two shots behind the leader. He was joined on ten under by Darren Clarke, who bogeyed his first hole - the tenth - before finishing with four straight birdies to record a 65 to go along with his 67. Strong impression The world number 17 is handily placed to make a strong impression over the weekend, in a tournament the Ulsterman has never won before. There's no doubt that there's a quality field on show, but the 2004 US Masters Champion, Phil Mickelson, was not having such a good time. Mickelson could only manage a one over par 72 in his second round, to stand at three under for the tournament in joint 54th place. Big threat The biggest threat from the Americas seems to be coming from Argentina's Angel Cabrera, who added a 67 to his overnight-leading 64 of Thursday. The 35 year-old winner of the BMW Championship at Wentworth in May finished with three birdies in his last four holes to stand at 11 under going into the weekend. But it's Lafeber of the Netherlands who leads the field at the halfway stage, following a career-best round of 63. Starting on the tenth, Lafeber went out in 31 and holed out for his seventh birdie of the day on the seventh green. A perfect iron into the ninth set up another and the Dutchman stands at 12 under par, one ahead of Cabrera and two ahead of Clarke, Forsyth and England's Jonathan Lomas. But with just seven shots covering the top 40 players, there's still a lot to play for before the $ 700,000 winner's cheque is handed out on Sunday evening. (AP)