Anstruther man eliminating all negative thoughts

BY GEORGE! MURRAY LEADS

SCOTTISH HYDRO CHALLENGE
By MICHAEL GIBBONS
Deputy Chief Press Officer, European Tour
George Murray found golfing enlightenment to move to the top of the Scottish Hydro Challenge leaderboard at the Macdonald Spey Valley Golf Course.
Inspired by his recent discovery of the book ‘Zen Golf’, Murray, pictured by Cal Carson Golf Agency, freed his mind to compile a second round 67 and move to eight under par for the tournament, giving the 27-year old Anstruther man a one-shot lead over Swede Magnus Carlsson, Germany’s Christophe Günther and England’s Lee Slattery going onto the weekend of the €200,000 event in the Scottish Highlands at Aviemore.
Italian star Matteo Manassero fired a level par 71 to remain in touch with the leaders on four under, while his playing partners – Challenge Tour Number One Rob Dinwiddie and defending champion Jami McLeary – are respectively five and three under with 36 holes still to play.
Murray’s second round included five birdies and a single bogey as he strode through the field to take the lead. After his round he revealed how his new attitude is, in the main, down to Dr Jo Parent’s book, ‘Zen Golf’, a work designed to eliminate the negative thoughts that plague golfers of every ability.
“I have been playing a lot better – I think it is just the mental approach and I have become a lot more relaxed. I have been reading some books in an attempt to chill myself out and it is helping,” said Murray.
“The best one is Zen Golf which is brilliant. When you read it you just come away thinking that every shot has no relevance, so when I am standing over a four-footer I know that it’s not important and if I miss it then it is not the end of the world.
“I am just going to go out tomorrow, hit it, find it and go round in as few stokes as possible. I don’t really think about winning, I just want to let it happen. Obviously we have all dreamt of winning but I am only half way there so there is a long way to go. I don’t want to put any unnecessary pressure on myself. That’s the Zen Golf talking!”
Argentina’s Joaquin Estevez, England’s Jamie Moul and Chilean Mark Tullo share fifth place on six under par, the Scottish duo of Chris Doak and Scott Jamieson joined Dinwiddie, Sweden’s Oskar Floren, Frenchmen François Calmels and Charles-Edouard Russo as well as Norwegian Marius Thorp on five under.

Chris Doak, Scott Jamieson other Scots in contention

FROM THE SCOTSMAN.COM WEBSITE
By MARTIN DEMPSTER
Tournament leader George Murray, who lives in Anstruther and plays his golf at Elie, where he has retained his link with Earlsferry Thistle, is determined he won't get in front of himself as the weekend's final rounds unfold.
"Everyone dreams of winning but I'm only halfway there," he said. "If you start thinking about winning it only creates extra pressure, which is unnecessary."
On a day when the wind had switched completely round from earlier in the week, the Fifer, Scottish amateur champion at Gullane in 2004, who is sharing a house close to the course with fellow competitors Scott Jamieson, Robert Dinwiddie and Adam Gee, almost holed his 5-iron tee shot at the par-3 16th and got up and down from bunkers for two more birdies on the back nine.
Jamieson, a 26-year-old from Glasgow who topped the PGA EuroPro Tour standings last season, is just three shots behind his housemate after he moved into contention in the £170,000 event with a second-round 69, coming home in 33. Greenock's Chris Doak, bidding to complete a Spey Valley double after winning the Northern Open two years ago, is also on five-under after a 70.
Lloyd Saltman, still trying to kick-start his professional career as Rory McIlroy and Rhys Davies, two of his Walker Cup team-mates, take the game by storm, catapulted himself up the leaderboard. The 24-year-old Archerfield Links man posted a 67 – his best round on the Challenge Tour since a similar effort in the Kazakhstan Open last September – to move to three-under, the same as Paul Lawrie Foundation team member Graeme Lornie, who had a bogey-free 68.
Saltman had arrived on Speyside at a low ebb after missing five consecutive cuts, but a change of attitude, coupled with some technical tweaks from coach Colin Brooks earlier in the week, helped him stop the rot and, in the process, put a spring back in his step at just the right time.
In 2005, as a 19-year-old, Saltman stood alongside Tiger Woods and Colin Montgomerie as he received the Silver Medal for finishing as leading amateur in the Open Championship at St Andrews and, not surprisingly, he's hoping to be back at the Old Course for the 150th anniversary of the world's oldest major next month. "I'm playing in the local final qualifying in two weeks' time and I'm hoping I get drawn at Scotscraig, where I qualified in 2005," he said. "The Old Course is one of my favourites and who knows what might happen if I can get back to St Andrews."
Since playing in the same Great Britain and Ireland Walker Cup team as McIlroy and Davies at Royal County Down in 2007, Saltman has been left trailing in their wake, but said: "I know I have the ability and attitude. I've stopped beating myself up on the course since my dad watched me out in France recently and said he felt I didn't seem to be enjoying it. I've changed my focus as a result of that and it is good to be in contention in Scotland."
Murray's closest challengers are Swede Magnus Carlsson (70), Englishman Lee Slattery (66) and Christoph Gunter, a 24-year-old German who was persuaded to turn professional by Simon Marshall, a one-time Tartan Tour player. "This is the best I have played this year," he said after signing for a second-round 68, an effort matched by defending champion Jamie McLeary, who picked up four birdies in his last six holes, to move to three-under.
SECOND-ROUND TOTALS
Par 142 (2x71). Yardage 7,100.
134 G Murray (Sco) 67 67;
135 M Carlsson (Swe) 65 70; C Günther (Ger) 67 68; L Slattery (Eng) 69 66;
136 J Estevez (Arg) 68 68; J Moul (Eng) 71 65; M Tullo (Chi) 66 70;
137 O Floren (Swe) 70 67; C Doak (Sco) 67 70; S Jamieson (Sco) 68 69; R Dinwiddie (Eng) 69 68; C Russo (Fra) 66 71; M Thorp (Nor) 66 71;
138 F Calmels (Fra) 66 72; I Van Weerelt (Ned) 67 71; M Manassero (Ita) 67 71; A Perrino (Ita) 69 69; L James (Eng) 67 71; C Moriarty (Irl) 71 67;
139 P Del Grosso (Arg) 70 69; L Saltman (Sco) 72 67; B Wiesberger (Aut) 72 67; G Shaw (Nir) 68 71; G Lornie (Sco) 71 68; A Gee (Eng) 67 72; S Davis (Eng) 70 69; J McLeary (Sco) 71 68; M Cort (Eng) 66 73;
140 J Zapata (Arg) 69 71; B Evans (Eng) 71 69; F Colombo (Ita) 69 71; O David (Fra) 68 72; C Smith (Wal) 70 70; M Haines (Eng) 68 72; S Surry (Eng) 72 68; A Bernadet (Fra) 71 69; C Macaulay (Sco) 72 68; L Kennedy (Eng) 71 69; J Caldwell (Nir) 68 72;
141 G Houston (Wal) 73 68; A Ahokas (Fin) 66 75; M Baldwin (Eng) 70 71; M Bliss (Can) 69 72; C Brazillier (Fra) 70 71; A Willey (Eng) 73 68; J Grillon (Fra) 68 73; S Garcia (Esp) 70 71; L Westerberg (Swe) 70 71; C Ford (Eng) 71 70; N Lemke (Swe) 69 72; L Matthews (Wal) 71 70; S Henry (Sco) 70 71; O Whiteley (Eng) 68 73; B Grace (RSA) 72 69; A Wagner (Arg) 72 69;
142 M McGeady (Irl) 68 74; A Johnston (Eng) 71 71; S Buhl (Ger) 70 72; E Saltman (Sco) 69 73; S Arnold (Aus) 72 70; N Cheetham (Eng) 71 71; H Bacher (Aut) 72 70; C Rodgers (Eng) 70 72; W Ormsby (Aus) 72 70; A Mellor (Eng) 72 70; R Kind (Ned) 70 72.
MISSED THE CUT
143 M Lorenzo-Vera (Fra) 75 68; J Arruti (Esp) 72 71; V Almstrom (Swe) 69 74; A Kaleka (Fra) 73 70; M Kerr (Sco) 71 72; F Praegant (Aut) 72 71; T Olesen (Den) 66 77; M Quiros (Esp) 70 73; W Besseling (Ned) 70 73; C Kelly (Sco) 72 71; T Norret (Den) 71 72; V Covello (USA) 71 72; C Lee (Sco) 73 70; F De Vries (Ned) 70 73; J Xanthopoulos (Fra) 72 71; S Henderson (Sco) 73 70;
144 R Russell (Sco) 72 72; M Korhonen (Fin) 70 74; J Colomo (Esp) 74 70; M Mills (Eng) 70 74; E Dubois (Fra) 74 70; J Makitalo (Fin) 75 69; Z Scotland (Eng) 71 73; M Zions (Aus) 73 71; S Tiley (Eng) 69 75; P Oriol (Esp) 75 69; B Etchart (Esp) 72 72; P Kaensche (Nor) 74 70; G Hutcheon (Sco) 69 75; P Relecom (Bel) 79 65;
145 J Doherty (Sco) 69 76; B Chapellan (Fra) 68 77; M Higley (Eng) 72 73; A Sjöstrand (Swe) 73 72; J Clément (Sui) 73 72; K Sullivan (Wal) 71 74; L Claverie (Esp) 73 72; T Weiss (Sui) 72 73; R Thuillier (Fra) 73 72;
146 V Riu (Fra) 74 72; A Velasco (Esp) 75 71; R Arnott (Sco) 71 75; S Wakefield (Eng) 73 73; K McNicoll (Sco) 74 72; S Gray (Sco) 74 72; J McCreadie (Sco) 72 74; M Vibe-Hastrup (Den) 72 74; R Kakko (Fin) 74 72; G Watremez (Bel) 73 73; B Mason (Eng) 76 70; J Maurer (Aut) 78 68; R Steiner (Aut) 70 76; T Remkes (Ned) 74 72;
147 A Hansen (Den) 67 80; S Duncan (Sco) 72 75; A Blyth (Aus) 75 72; A Maestroni (Ita) 71 76;
148 S McAllister (Sco) 74 74; D Griffiths (Eng) 77 71; A Tadini (Ita) 78 70; J Abbate (Arg) 75 73; K McAlpine (Sco) 73 75; J Hedin (Swe) 76 72;
149 C Shave (Eng) 74 75; D Marmion (Eng) 76 73; L Harper (Sco) 72 77; S Doherty (Eng) 73 76; S Robinson (Eng) 75 74; J Billot (Fra) 76 73; T Stewart (Aus) 73 76; P Dwyer (Eng) 75 74; S Lewton (Eng) 76 73;
150 J Gallagher (Sco) 75 75; P O'Hanlon (Irl) 73 77; G Dear (Sco) 73 77;
151 P Doherty (Sco) 76 75;
152 D Ulrich (Sui) 73 79; J Campillo (Esp) 76 76; S Walker (Eng) 74 78;
153 M Lawrence (Sco) 78 75; E Ramsay (Sco) 80 73;
154 R Steele (Eng) 77 77;
161 M Lowe (Eng) 85 76;
163 F Cromarty (Sco) 88 75;
166 R Bechu (Fra) 87 79;
** D Perrier (Fra) 75 RT;
G Povey (Eng) WD



Michael Gibbons