Golf: Walton's four-star putting display

IRELAND'S Philip Walton made rapid headway up the leaderboard at the Dutch Open yesterday - thanks to a putter borrowed from a man he met in a petrol station.

Walton, who holed the winning putt in the 1995 Ryder Cup at Oak Hill, has endured a miserable season, missing the cut 10 times in 16 events. His poor putting has been the major problem until this week when the gift from a stranger in Dublin proved to be the solution to his problems.

"I met this guy at a petrol station last week. He asked me how I was doing and I said I was putting terrible," said Walton after his 66 gave him a two-round total of 135, seven under par. "So he offered me his putter out of the boot of his car and I'm using it this week. It's an old Peter Senior putter, one of the first ever made. It looks like it needs a coat of paint but I wouldn't touch it.

"It was a bit light so I put some lead in it and it feels good in my hand, but I'll give him it back at the end of the year."

Walton currently languishes in 172nd place in the Order of Merit with earnings of just pounds 9,000 and needs a few good finishes to secure his tour card. "I actually played some superb golf in the Irish Open at Druids Glen but missed the cut by five or six shots, that's how bad I was putting," he said.

The Argentinian Eduardo Romero briefly claimed the lead on his own with a birdie from 20 feet on the 17th hole only to drop his first shot of the day at the last after a wayward drive. That gave him a 68 to go with his opening 67 and left him seven under alongside Walton.

The nearest challenge to the leaders from the later starters was coming from Scotland's Gary Orr, who reached the turn in 33 to go five under with nine holes to play. One behind Walton and Romero in the clubhouse was the Midlander Jonathan Lomas, who added a 66 to his opening 70.

Darren Clarke was a shot further back after his second-round 65, the best round of the tournament to date, coming home in 30 to finish five under par. "I'm not quite playing as well as when I won the English Open but I'm starting to get it back together again," said Clarke. "I got off to a really bad start yesterday - bogey, bogey, bogey - but I hung in there and if you keep it straight on this course it will give you opportunities."