Borred putter helps Walton to lead

Ireland's Philip Walton produced a high octane performance to claim a share of the lead at the Dutch Open - thanks to a putter borrowed from a man he met in a petrol station.

Walton, 37, who holed the winning putt in the 1995 Ryder Cup at Oak Hill, has endured a miserable season so far, 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," Walton said after only needing 24 putts in his second round 66 to share the lead with Argentinian Eduardo Romero on seven under at Hilversum.

"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 broomhandle 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.

"I didn't know him but I do now."

He should know him. The man's name is Miles Worth and he turned out to be the son-in-law of Walton's gardener.

Walton currently languishes in 172nd in the Order of Merit with earnings of just £9,000 and needs a few good finishes to secure his card.

"I actually played some superb golf in the Irish Open at Druid's Glen but missed the cut by five or six shots, that's how bad I was putting," he added.

"It's unbelievably hard. You have to keep your chin up and keep going, I have no exemption left to play on the tour and will have to earn my card."

Along with the new putter comes a new mental approach courtesy of more orthodox means, with Walton working with Belgian sports psychologist Jos Vanstiphout, who lists South African Retief Goosen, second on the Order of Merit, among his growing list of clients.

"I've been working with Jos for the first time over the last two days," Walton added. "He's done wonders for Retief Goosen. Actually you're nearly afraid if you don't do well. He'll thump you."

Walton and Romero enjoyed a one-shot lead over Scotland's Gary Orr and English duo Jonathan Lomas and John Bickerton, the latter finishing in style with an eagle on the last in his 67.

Bickerton is 19th in the Ryder Cup points table and is one of a handful of players all grouped closely together who could make significant ground towards the top 10 this week with the top prize of £133,000.

"It's been a while since a round like that and it's pleasing after missing three cuts in a row and failing to qualify for the Open," the 29-year-old said.

"It lifts the pressure and gets you back on the right road. It's just about self-belief, you have a couple of bad shots creep in and you try and analyse too much where they come from.

"You try not to think too much about the Ryder Cup but it's always there in the back of your mind. Three missed cuts doesn't help but two more good rounds here could put all that right. It's all very tight."

Darren Clarke was a shot further back after his second round 65, the joint best round of the tournament, 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 who will play the Ryder Cup course at Brookline in a fortnight's time ahead of the USPGA.

"In order to contend we all have to hole some putts and I've not been holing many for the past three or four weeks. I hope I can hole some more now.

"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."

The cut fell at one over par with the most high profile casualties Jose Maria Olazabal and Mark James, the Ryder Cup captain, missing out by one shot despite a birdie on the last.