Ladies Scottish Open at Gullane

Kelsey and Kylie only Scots to survive: Catriona Matthew nosedives out of tournament with a second-round 79

Only two Scots survived the halfway cut in the Ladies Scottish Open at Gullane - Kelsey Macdonald on 142 (67-75) in joint 52nd position, and Kylie Henry on the limit mark of 143 (73-70) and in joint 67th position.

The "casualties" include Catriona Matthew who slumped from 69 in the first to 79 in the second for 148 ... Carly Booth, one shot too many with a pair of 72s, Gemma Dryburgh 147 (74-73), Vikki Laing 149 (75-74) and Michele Thomson 153 (75-78).

 American Tiffany Joh is the surprise halfway leader.

The world No. 177 followed her opening 62 with a four-under 67 in near-perfect conditions on Friday, to lead by three on 13-under, ahead of Thailand’s Ariya Jutanugarn and Amy Yang from South Korea.

Joh, who is leading an LET/LPGA event for the first time, started her second round as she finished her first - with a birdie - and she quickly added another at the par-3 third hole. 

There was one blemish on the par-four fifth, but after making the turn in two-under, there were more heroics on the back nine. On the downhill par-4 10^th, Joh drained an 80 foot putt from off the green for birdie, adding another for good measure on the par-4 14^th hole.

She said afterwards: “I had pretty low expectations for today, to be honest. I honestly probably would have taken anything under par, but on the first hole right away we made like a 45-footer, and I just started laughing. Like I didn't even know what to say. So yeah, it was like a really good start, and I guess I just kept rolling with it.”

Jutanugarn, who shot 65, shares the same putting coach as Joh and the Californian added that she would love to play with the world No .3, although every time she sees her name on a leaderboard, she hears the Jaws theme tune playing in her head.

The 2016 Ricoh Women’s British Open champion wasn’t overly impressed by her own putting,  despite making six birdies on a flawless scorecard and said:

 “I'm a little surprised because I didn't play golf for two weeks. I didn't practise at all, and I don't really like windy or links course. So I feel like after two rounds that 10-under is pretty good.”

Germany’s Caroline Masson is on nine-under, with world No.2 Sung Hyun Park a stroke further back. Park’s compatriot, world no.4 So Yeon Ryu, is alongside the Vic Open champion Minjee Lee from Australia on seven-under-par.

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