• Scottish Open, Round Two

Doak leads Stenson & Mickelson in Inverness

Chris Doak leads some big names in Scotland © Getty Images

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Scottish Open leaderboard

A host of big names are in contention heading into the weekend at the Scottish Open - with a home player in possession of the lead with 36 holes still to play.

At 12-under par Glasgow native Chris Doak leads the field, but the likes of Henrik Stenson and Phil Mickelson are well poised to make significant moves on Saturday at Castle Stuart.

Doak, 35, carded a round of 66 on Friday to catapult himself into the lead - and give himself a great chance of improving on his record of just one career top-ten finish on the European Tour. He holds a one-shot lead over a group of players including Peter Uihlein, Matthew Southgate and Ross Fisher.

"The Challenge Tour definitely taught me how to play four rounds and handle the travel," Doak said. "It's a tough environment because there are a lot of great players out there and you need to be consistent because there is not as much money.

"But anything that's worth learning takes time and hopefully it's coming together now. It's fantastic to shoot 66 and follow it up with another one and I'm really pleased."

Southgate had the low round of the day after a blistering 64, a score matched by Stenson - who was flawless all day as he improved to 10-under.

"I'm very pleased with the score but still feel like I left a few chances out there," the Swede noted. "I three-putted the 18th for par and the putt on nine was more in the hole than a few that I made but somehow lipped out. That would have been the icing on the cake."

Stenson is the most high-profile name at the top of the leaderboard bar Mickelson, who continued his good start by moving to eight-under after a second round 70.

The American will be a huge threat over the weekend, starting on the same score as the likes of Thorbjorn Olesen, Richard Sterne and Branden Grace - and one behind Francesco Molinari.

Former tournament champion Ernie Els did not enjoy the best of days, however, a round of 70 not enough for the South African to make the cut as he heads to the defence of his Open Championship title next week.

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