Connor Syme and Grant Forrest in Muthaiga mix at happy hunting ground for Scots

Though Englishman John Parry is out in front on 14 under at the halfway stage and has Benjamin Hebert, the Frenchman who lost out to Bernd Wiesberger in a marathon play-off in the 2019 Genesis Scottish Open at The Renaissance Club, breathing down his neck, Syme and Forrest are both handily-placed.

Helped by making seven birdies in nine holes in a second-round 64, Syme sits joint-fifth on seven under, one ahead of Forrest after he went out in 32 en route to a second successive 68.

The one and only Brian Barnes was the first Scot to lift this title in 1981 and was quickly followed by Ken Brown (1983) and Garry Harvey (1985) before Craig Maltman and Mike Miller also added their names to the trophy in 1993 and 1996 respectively.

All those triumphs came at Muthaiga and Forrest, who is chasing a second DP World Tour win after landing his breakthrough on Scottish soil in the 2021 Hero Open at Fairmont St Andrews, is enjoying the challenge it provides.

“I like the course,” he said. “Even though it’s a bit easier than when I was last here two years ago, I think it’s tricky and it tests your game. It gives you so many different ways to play it. You can play super-aggressive and take on quite a few tee shots and really set up birdie chances.

“But, if you get it wrong, then you are probably chipping out. Or you can play a bit more conservatively and do it that way. We’ve kind of taken the aggressive approach and, all in all, it has worked out alright.”

Syme has likened it to Ladybank, where his dad Stuart played as an amateur, and Forrest can see why. “Yeah, you’ve got to hit it straight and get your wedges dialled in because distance control is so important, especially up here with the heat and the altitude.

“Then, if you add a bit of wind, some of the shorter irons just go miles. If you hit it hard up in the air, you are getting a lot more than the 10-12 per cent that you play for. Especially coming from home last week, when it didn’t get above five degrees (laughing), so it is a big adjustment yardage-wise.

“Sometimes you could hit a full 9-iron pretty hard and high and that could go further than a flighted-down 8-iron. You have to pick your shot and, even then, it’s still a bit of a lottery.”

Forrest, who is now working with Pete Cowen on his swing and has another seasoned campaigner, Dave McNeilly, on his bag, followed a birdie at the third with a run of three successive gains from the sixth.

“Yeah, I played really nicely on the front nine and had a good chance on nine to go out in five under actually,” he said. “I then made a mess of ten (taking a double-bogey 7), hitting it through the fairway into a bush and it was then a bit of a comedy of errors after that. But, all in all, pretty happy with how it has gone so far.”

Elsewhere, Lorna McClymont made it two cuts in two starts as a professional after following her opening 69 with a 74 to sit just outside the top ten in the Sunshine Ladies Tour’s Standard Bank Ladies Open at Durbanville.

Meanwhile, Craigielaw and Gullane member Cameron Mukherjee fell at the final hurdle in the South African Amateur Championship, losing 5&4 to home player Charl Barnard in the title decider at Humewood.