Brandon Stone shrugged off a rare attack of nerves and an early bogey on Friday as he raced to a superb eight-under-par 64 in the second round of the DP World Tour’s Betfred British Masters hosted by Sir Nick Faldo at The Belfry near Birmingham in England.
Stone made nine superb birdies as he rocketed up the leaderboard into a share of second on nine-under-par, more than making up for the nervousness at the start which led to a bogey on 11 after he started his round on the 10th.
“I didn’t get off to the best start,” he said. “I had a nine-foot birdie putt on 10 and missed; had a terrible tee shot on 11 and made bogey. Had a really good tee shot on 12 and hit it to six to eight feet and rolled it in comfortably. That settled the nerves a little bit, and then the rest of the round is a complete blur.
“I rolled some beautiful putts in to turn the score around. I’m putting a lot better. Putting seems to have let me down over my career. In the last three or four months, it’s really come together nicely. I feel like I’m rolling the ball so much better – better that I ever really have.”
He made his nine birdies in an incredible 12-hole stretch, from the 13th, around the turn and to the fifth, as he showed the kind of form that took him to three DP World Tour titles before a loss of form saw him lose his playing rights on that tour as he returned to the Challenge Tour last season to play his way back.
Up front, Tyrrell Hatton holds a one-shot lead at the halfway stage after adding a second-round 65 to his opening 69. The six-time DP World Tour winner made the most of ideal morning conditions to set the clubhouse target at 10-under-par.
Among those looking to hunt him down are nearest challengers Jorge Campillo, Jeong weon Ko and Stone, who sit one shot off the lead on nine-under. Ko’s fellow Frenchman Tom Vaillant and Dane Niklas Nørgaard were another shot behind that trio, in a tie for fifth.
Two shots behind Stone, Thriston Lawrence continued on his imperturbable way, and was right in the mix at seven-under-par in seventh place after his bogey-free three-under-par 69.
Pieter Moolman had a three-under 69 to move to two-under and a share of 26th, while Justin Walters was a further shot back in a share of 37th after his second round of two-under 70.
George Coetzee made the cut on his return to DP World Tour action, and he was at level-par in a share of 52nd together with Dylan Frittelli.
Justin Harding, Jaco Prinsloo, Louis de Jager, Darren Fichardt, Ockie Strydom, MJ Daffue, Dylan Mostert, Casey Jarvis, Jayden Schaper and Oliver Bekker all missed the cut.
