Goosen revives magic touch at Loch Lomond

Course record holder Retief Goosen was in great form again at Loch Lomond today, charging into the Scottish Open lead with a second-round 63.

The 2001 champion, whose record 62 actually came four years earlier, had an eagle and seven birdies to move from joint 17th overnight into a two-stroke advantage over Australian Adam Scott.

With overnight leader Richard Green among the later starters, Goosen grabbed the opportunity to seize top spot.

Three birdies took him to the turn in 32. After starting for home with another, he eagled the long third, birdied the next and after dropping his only stroke on the fifth, came back with two more birdies.

The South African said: "I do like it here - it's fairly generous off the tee and I'm not one of the straightest hitters."

But while Goosen moved impressively on to the 11-under-par mark of 131, Colin Montgomerie was assuming he had missed the halfway cut for the third time in a row, despite closing with four successive birdies.

Europe's Ryder Cup captain had been way down the field on four over when he began his run and his 69 for level par still looked set to be one or two strokes too many to survive.

"I birdied them all but you should," said the Scot. "I'm not playing very well. It's gone back to where it was for me -disappointing."

The 46-year-old has not had a top-10 finish for more than a year.

The damage was done this time by a double-bogey six on the 16th, his seventh of the day, and a bogey at the short 17th.

For Scott, three birdies in the closing stretch gave him a 67 and a nine-under aggregate that was one better than his compatriot Marcus Fraser and also German Martin Kaymer.