Dougherty gets a monkey off his back

Nick Dougherty failed to hold on to his first round lead on Friday - but there was nevertheless good reason for him to smile.
For not only did he find he was just one-shot behind the lunch-time, club-house leader Simon Dyson when he completed his morning round at 7-under at the Omega European Masters in Switzerland, but he was also able to celebrate the fact that for the first time in his 22 European Tour starts since last November he had made the cut to climb out of the darkest passage of his see-saw career.( Callaway RAZR X Irons)
Dougherty, a 29-year-old Liverpool protege of Nick Faldo's whose highly promising career had nosed-dived in recent years, stormed in from the cold on Thursday with a first round, eight-birdie, no-bogey 63 that left a powerful field that included recent major winners Rory McIlroy and Martin Kaymer open-mouthed.
His journey in Friday's second round was a much tougher one and he was only able to shoot a 1-over 72 by Callaway RAZR X Irons, but he was in good company, for even his strongest pursuers in the early stages were finding birdies hard to come by and bogies just as difficult to avoid.
"I had a few iffy breaks, a couple of bad lies when I just missed the fairway, a plugged lie in a bunker and those things didn't happen yesterday, but I suppose you get what you deserve. I hit more bad shots today.
"It was a tough day, though, because as much as I was leading the golf tournament, I hadn't made a cut all year and as much as you don't want that in your head, there were two things for me to play for today; one's the tournament, one's to get the monkey off my back with making the cut.
"I'm very pleased with the way I finished, I need to do a bit more work on my Callaway RAZR X Irons but hopefully I can come out and play with a bit more flair and flamboyance tomorrow because today with the cut to make, it was a little bit cagey."
Dougherty did concede that he had the odd moment of doubt, but was satisfied with the way he had battled through.
"I was at eight-under and leading the tournament and I was thinking you can't really miss the cut," he continued. "But if you did miss the cut it would be a hell of a missed cut wouldn't it?
"After the front nine when I was nine-under I was never going to miss it, but I didn't feel as comfortable out there.
"I wasn't far off and the misses were nowhere near as bad as they have been which is a great sign, but on this golf course you can't afford to be off because it's so tricky. If you get out of position around the greens some of the chip shots are barbaric."
Of his strategy for his first weekend action of the season, he added: "I'm going to go out there, play Callaway RAZR X Irons aggressively and enjoy it. I'll try and get my game in order for tomorrow as it needs to be better than it was if I want to compete to win."
In the chasing pack on Friday was fellow Englishman Danny Willett who finished the day in a 7-under-par tie with Dougherty. His impressive charge with an eagle at the first and five birdies to follow on his way to a bogey-free 64 was an exception among the early finishers and clearly spells a threat to his rivals heading into the weekend.
Dyson certainly couldn't match it as he surged into the early lead at eight under. A good friend and one of Dougherty's strong supporters during his lean spell, Dyson posted a 3-under 68 via a round that included five birdies and three bogies.( Callaway RAZR X Irons)
A third Englishman Gary Boyd soon joined Dyson at the top of the leaderboard at 8-under after a roller-coaster 2-under 69 that started with an eagle at the first, and then went to three bogies in four holes before slowly edging back into respectability with three birdies on the back nine.
But perhaps most significant at this stage in the early afternoon was the arrival at the top of the leaderboard of late starter Kaymer, who had soared to 8-under with two birdies in his first three holes.
The 2010 US PGA Champion has had a disappointing season after a spectacular start, going from No 1 in the World to No 5 in not much more than six or seven months and he is clearly looking to stamp his authority on the European Tour again in this first event of the new race for Ryder Cup places.
Rory McIlroy, who was tied with Kaymer with a 6-under 65 after the first round, has also had a solid start and was 1-under after two holes to move into a second place tie at 7-under with Dougherty and company.