Marc Warren aims to give home fans something to 'clap' in Scottish Challenge

The 45-year-old recovered from a sluggish third in the penultimate circuit at SCHLOSS Roxburghe near Kelso to card a one-under-par 70 and sit on 11-under-par in the £250,000 event on the HotelPlanner Tour.

Halfway leader Christofer Blomstrand of Sweden is still out in front on 16 under, sitting two shots ahead of Portugal’s Tomas Gouveia, with Warren sitting in six-strong group sharing third place.

“A little bit frustrated score-wise today but really happy about how I played,” said the four-time DP World Tour winner. “It was tough out there. It was tricky to get it close to the hole due to the wind being as strong as it was at times. I didn’t get off to the best of starts, so patience was really good. Just making pars and taking chances at the par 5s when I got them. Overall, I’m still in a good position for tomorrow.”

Warren, one of the most experienced players in the field at the Borders venue, is eight under par for the nine par 5s he’s tackled so far this week on the Dave Thomas-designed course, part of which flanks the River Teviot.

“It was something I’ve kind of been looking at for a while as my par-5 scoring hasn’t been that great. I’ve generally been making enough birdies, but not at the par 5s,” he admitted. “Some of the decent finishes I’ve had - top 20 or top 30 - I’ve felt that if I could just have played the par 5s better, they could have been top-ten or top-five weeks.

“I’ve kind of changed my mindset with the driver off the tee. Just basically trusting it more because my driving has been really good and my good scoring so far this week has been down to hitting the fairway off the tee.”

Warren is bidding to make it a Scottish double at this venue after Daniel Young landed the title 12 months’ ago, while Jamie McLeary (2009), George Murray (2010) and David Law (2018) also claimed the prize in Aviemore.

“Yeah, it is nice,” admitted Warren of this week’s assignment. “It’s always nice to play well at home, especially at a venue like The Roxburghe. It’s a really good golf course and is in great condition this week. It’s tricky due to the wind picking up and down.

“If you get it early and it’s calm, there’s plenty of birdie chances.But, if it’s windy, you’ve got to hang on and I used that patience well this afternoon. Not trying to get ahead of myself and hopefully the putts will drop tomorrow.

“It’s always nice to play in front of people, especially people you think want you to do well and hopefully give them something to clap tomorrow and get a bit of momentum on my side, which I didn’t feel I got today.

“There were quite a few people at the start but that kind of dwindles down when you are making seven pars in a row. Hopefully I can make a few more birdies tomorrow and get a few more people watching, which would be nice.”

After carding a 68 for a 10-under total, Michael Stewart also sits in the top ten , with Graeme Robertson and Ryan Lumsden both two shots further back.