Things were certainly heating up at the Renaissance. In fact, it got so warm during round two of the Genesis Scottish Open, the golf writers just about had to squirt some Ambre Solaire onto their laptops.
It was a day to make hay while that big, fiery orb up yonder shone down on East Lothian. Chris Gotterup certainly got cracking with a sizzling card that almost had singed edges.
You could say it was a case of giddy-up, Gotterup. The 25-year-old American came galloping to the top of the field with a nine-under 61 which equalled the Renaissance course record.
That terrific effort thrust Gotterup on to an 11-under aggregate as he finished two shots clear of Englishman Harry Hall, with Ludvig Aberg, Marco Penge and the former US Open champion, Matthew Fitzpatrick, tucked in on eight-unders.
Rory McIlroy is lurking ominously on seven-under with the reigning Open champion, Xander Schauffele, a shot further back. Scottie Scheffler, the world No 1, sits on five-under at the halfway stage.
A sell-out crowd will attend day three and they’ll be delighted to know that Robert MacIntyre, the defending champion, will still be around. He made the cut by the skin of his tooth enamel.
A weekend charge? You never know. Get there early to avoid the Gullane gridlock.
In a line-up featuring eight of the world’s top-10 players, it was Gotterup, the world No 158, who was standing tall. Well, once he’d woken himself up for an early tee-off time.
“I’ve had a hard time getting up all week, so it took some motivation getting up at 5:15 or whatever it was,” he said. From bleary eyed, to eye-catching.
In bright, largely benign conditions, Gotterup raced to the turn in just 29 blows with a bag of six birdies and seven single putts.
He picked up three more birdies on the 10th, 13th and 14th as all and sundry looked at the leaderboard and thought, “there’s a 59 on here.”
The golfing gods don’t dish out that magical number willy-nilly, of course, and Gotterup parred in.
“I wasn’t really thinking too much about a 59,” said the halfway leader, who won his first title on the PGA Tour at Myrtle Beach last season.
“To shoot 61 is still pretty cool. I think it’s my lowest ever round in tournament golf.”
A sturdy looking fellow, who can give the ball a good old skelp, Gotterup puts his power down to playing lacrosse when he was growing up.
In a fashion, he could be Maryland’s answer to the shinty-playing MacIntyre.
“Lacrosse definitely helped with my swing speed as I grew up learning to basically hit the ball as hard as I could and then figure it out from there,” added Gotterup of this crash, bang, wallop.
“I’ve probably bulked up a little too much and gotten a bit heavier than I would like. But I feel like I have good touch in my game as well.
"I have heard that Bob plays shinty. I don’t know a whole lot about that, but apparently you need to be pretty tough to play that sport. I guess it’s similar to lacrosse in that sense.”
Hall led the chasing pack with a 64 as his push to make a name for himself on this side of the pond gathered pace. The 27-year-old is hard to miss. He is, after all, 6’ 4”, weighs in at about 16 stone and wears a bunnet.
His golfing development, though, has taken place in the USA and, despite a maiden PGA Tour win last season, the Cornishman is still something of an unknown quantity over here.
“I don’t know if I like it,” he said of this relative anonymity. “I want to be one of the best and that comes with being in the spotlight and, when you’re not, you’ve just got to get motivated to keep going.
“Hopefully, I can keep playing good golf when I come back here and people will know my name.”
Fitzpatrick is more of a household name although the most coverage he’s had over a trying 12 months or so was when he split from his long-term caddie, the well-kent Billy Foster.
The Sheffield man’s form is slowly returning, though, and a tidy, bogey-free 63 saw him barge his way into contention for a title that he lost out on in play-off back in 2021.
“I’d been with Billy for six years and having that experience on the bag and the success we had together is something I will always be grateful for,” said Fitzpatrick.
“But when you’re not playing very well, you feel like something needs freshening up.”
Aberg, the classy Swede, began his round with two bogeys but bounced back with eight birdies en route to a 65.
“It's definitely growing on me,” said Aberg as he continues to get to grips with the Renaissance course.
McIlroy, the Scottish Open champion in 2023, finished his first round on Thursday night with three birdies in a row and he picked up where he left off in round two with five birdies on his opening seven holes.
The Masters champion eventually finished with a 65 – he did bogey his final hole – and was more than happy with his effort as he continues build up a head of steam after a couple of weeks off.
“I’m right in the thick of things and excited for the weekend,” said the world No 2. “If there is anything you need to work on in your game, it’s going to show when you’re under the pressure of trying to win. I’m looking forward to that.”
Scheffler has ground to make up after a topsy-turvy day at the office but a 68 left him hovering on fringes of the top-20.
The bumper crowds descending on East Lothian will have plenty of golfing fare to feast on.
