Jamieson jumps into contention with

dazzling display


From Challenge Tour Press Officer Paul Symes
A breathtaking front nine of 29 helped propel Scotland’s Scott Jamieson from joint 28th to tied third at the midway stage of the money-spinning Kazakhstan Open on the European Challenge Tour.
Jamieson, currently languishing in 71st place in the Challenge Tour Rankings and therefore in need of a strong showing at the €400,000 event, flew out of the blocks with seven birdies – including four on the spin from the sixth hole – to break 30 for nine holes for the first time in his Challenge Tour career.
He picked up one more shot on the more demanding back nine at Zhailjau Golf Resort in Almaty, Kazakhstan, to finish on 11 under par, two shots behind the joint leaders Federico Colombo of Italy and Australian Daniel Gaunt.
Jamieson said: “I got off to a great start with birdies at the first and second, then added another one at the fourth and four more from the sixth. At that point, the game felt pretty easy! You’ve got to make your score on the front nine out there – there are definitely more chances because the par fives are all reachable in two, and the par four eighth is also driveable. The two par fives on the back nine aren’t nearly as accessible, but I managed to pick up a birdie on the 14th and then just kept it nice and steady after that.
“It’s my joint lowest round to par on the Challenge Tour – I also shot an eight under par 62 in Poland last year. I wasn’t sure if I’d broken 30 on the Challenge Tour before, but now that I know I haven’t, I’m even more pleased with my day. The scoring’s probably so low because the course is in such great condition, especially the greens, which are absolutely perfect. At the same time if you do miss the fairways in the wrong places you can really come unstuck, because the rough is quite thick on some holes.
“If I keep playing the way I’ve been playing, hopefully I won’t be too far away. It’s obviously a massive weekend, but I’m going to try to enjoy it – and maybe the money will motivate me to do well! I’ve just got to try to stick to the same game plan, because it’s obviously worked for me so far. With the position I’m in at the moment in the Rankings, the most realistic goal for me is to finish in the top 45, to make sure I get into the Grand Final. Anyone who makes the Grand Final has a chance of earning their card, and the worst case scenario is that you go straight to the Qualifying School Final. So that has to be the aim, and a good week here would definitely help.”
Jamieson will be joined at the weekend by his fellow Scots Eric Ramsay (seven under par), George Murray, Elliot Saltman (both six under) Callum Macaulay (five under), Jack Doherty and Jamie McLeary (both four under).
But Andrew McArthur and Raymond Russell will both miss out after finishing on one under and level par respectively.

SECOND-ROUND TOTALS131 F Colombo (Ita) 66 65, D Gaunt (Aus) 65 66,
133 S Jamieson (Sco) 69 64, A Velasco (Esp) 67 66,
134 C Ford (Eng) 70 64, J Clément (Sui) 68 66, P Gustafsson (Swe) 67 67, K Eriksson (Swe) 67 67, A Perrino (Ita) 67 67, B Evans (Eng) 68 66, A Gee (Eng) 69 65, A Ahokas (Fin) 66 68,
135 J Arruti (Esp) 67 68, P Edberg (Swe) 66 69, D Brooks (Eng) 70 65, S Manley (Wal) 69 66, A Wagner (Arg) 69 66,
136 J Zapata (Arg) 67 69, M Thorp (Nor) 66 70, B Wiesberger (Aut) 71 65, F De Vries (Ned) 68 68, C Brazillier (Fra) 64 72, T Olesen (Den) 69 67, O Whiteley (Eng) 70 66, C Gane (Eng) 69 67, M Carlsson (Swe) 65 71,
137 S Buhl (Ger) 68 69, S Tiley (Eng) 71 66, A Kaleka (Fra) 71 66, A Tadini (Ita) 69 68, M Tullo (Chi) 70 67, M Higley (Eng) 71 66, E Ramsay (Sco) 70 67, R Kakko (Fin) 68 69,
138 M Korhonen (Fin) 69 69, L Gagli (Ita) 67 71, T Feyrsinger (Aut) 69 69, T Fleetwood (Eng) 73 65, G Murray (Sco) 70 68, E Saltman (Sco) 70 68, M Bothma (RSA) 68 70, W Ormsby (Aus) 67 71, A Haindl (RSA) 69 69, J Campillo (Esp) 68 70, B Grace (RSA) 71 67,
139 O Floren (Swe) 68 71, S Gross Jr (Ger) 69 70, A Bernadet (Fra) 68 71, C Macaulay (Sco) 71 68, V Riu (Fra) 70 69, R Kind (Ned) 69 70, P Relecom (Bel) 70 69, D Denison (Eng) 70 69, G Houston (Wal) 69 70, J Roos (RSA) 68 71, P Golding (Eng) 69 70, A Marshall (Eng) 70 69,
140 R Dinwiddie (Eng) 70 70, T Pilkadaris (Aus) 69 71, A Sjöstrand (Swe) 69 71, A Hansen (Den) 71 69, M Nichols (Eng) 71 69, T Whitehouse (Eng) 69 71, M Zions (Aus) 70 70, L Claverie (Esp) 67 73, J McLeary (Sco) 73 67, J Doherty (Sco) 72 68
MISSED THE CUT
141 M Quiros (Esp) 70 71, N Meitinger (Ger) 72 69, F Calmels (Fra) 71 70, A Willey (Eng) 71 70, J Sjöholm (Swe) 74 67, E Canonica (Ita) 72 69, S Davis (Eng) 70 71, R Steiner (Aut) 73 68, S Surry (Eng) 72 69, A Snobeck (Fra) 72 69, F Praegant (Aut) 70 71, I Van Weerelt (Ned) 70 71, J Grillon (Fra) 69 72, S Walker (Eng) 70 71,
142 D Whitnell (Eng) 70 72, J Little (Eng) 74 68, C Baker (USA) 70 72, N Lemke (Swe) 70 72, C Russo (Fra) 68 74, M Vibe-Hastrup (Den) 72 70, P Kaensche (Nor) 72 70,
143 D Vanegas (Col) 70 73, B Barham (Eng) 71 72, J Xanthopoulos (Fra) 73 70, T Stewart (Aus) 75 68, Y Ali (Eng) 73 70, A McArthur (Sco) 72 71, P Del Grosso (Arg) 75 68, M Baldwin (Eng) 69 74, J Moul (Eng) 72 71,
144 O David (Fra) 72 72, C Paisley (Eng) 72 72, E Dubois (Fra) 72 72, J Larsen (Nor) 71 73, B Ritthammer (Ger) 70 74, R Russell (Sco) 72 72, W Besseling (Ned) 74 70, P Dwyer (Eng) 72 72,
145 Å Nilsson (Swe) 74 71, M Laskey (Wal) 75 70, B Chapellan (Fra) 71 74, L Bond (Wal) 75 70, L Goddard (Eng) 75 70, S Wakefield (Eng) 74 71,
146 F Henge (Swe) 72 74, L Kennedy (Eng) 74 72, G Rosier (Fra) 71 75, A Högberg (Swe) 74 72,
147 L Jensen (Den) 76 71, L Slattery (Eng) 75 72,
148 S Lewton (Eng) 72 76, C Del Moral (Esp) 73 75,
149 J Ruth (Eng) 74 75,
151 M Haines (Eng) 77 74, J Caldwell (Nir) 75 76,
152 C Günther (Ger) 75 77, J Billot (Fra) 75 77,
153 K Lifanov (Rus) 74 79,
163 A Mukhamedzhanov (am) (Kaz) 82 81,
166 A Lagay (Kaz) 86 80,
167 Y Kafelnikov (Rus) 84 83,
177 N Makulbekov (am) (Kaz) 84 93,
180 I Savitsky (Kaz) 89 91,
182 A Vongay (Kaz) 91 91,
** J Makitalo (Fin) 83 WD,