Colsaerts and John share lead on day of drama at St Andrews

The Alfred Dunhill Links Championship hotted up at the halfway stage as Belgium’s Nicolas Colsaerts and Australian Cameron John took the joint lead after a day of drama and excellent scoring.

Colsaerts, with an impressive 65 at difficult Carnoustie, and John, ranked 1007 in the world, with a 68 at St Andrews now hold a one-shot advantage over Scotland’s David Law and first round leader Darren Fichardt.

The leaders will also be looking further behind them at two of Europe’s top stars who both moved up into serious contention. Tyrrell Hatton, chasing a third Alfred Dunhill Links title, and Tommy Fleetwood, seeking his first, are both three shots back on 11-under-par. Hatton shot 68, while Fleetwood had one of the best rounds of the day with 65.

Belgium’s Colsaerts, the vice-captain of the winning European Ryder Cup team in Rome in 2023, describes himself as a part-time golfer now that he spends time working as a commentator, but he showed nothing but total commitment.

The 41-year-old Colsaerts said: “I've been playing pretty well since yesterday! At St Andrews, I really plotted my way around, but at Carnoustie it requires a bit more local knowledge. Having played in this event really helps.”

Cameron John, aged 25, from Melbourne, said: “The last time I was here I won the Scottish strokeplay at Gullane so the first thing I did when I got here was to drive to Gullane and look around. It was nice to reminisce.

“I don’t really have any expectations. I think I’m in that comfortable place where I am just enjoying being out here and I wouldn’t say I expect anything. If you told me that I would be in this position at the start I would probably have thought that a little far-fetched. But I’ve been playing nicely at home and I’m not surprised.”