EXILED Scot Bill Longmuir claimed the halfway lead in the Glenmuir Club Professional Championship at Co Louth yesterday and then revealed how putting guru Harold Swash had saved his game from the dreaded putting "yips".

The former European Tour professional has struggled for the past eight years but he shrugged off the effects of jet lag to card a five under par second round of 68 and move two shots clear of his nearest rival on an eight under par total of 138.

The Stonyhill golfer, who originally hails from Glasgow, is closely trailed by his fellow countryman Russell Weir, of Cowal, after the former champion had posted his second successive 70.

Having only returned from Kiawah Island in America on Monday, he bagged six birdies and three bogies and capped his sensational round across a treacherously tight linksland course with an eagle at the final hole when he fired a five iron to a foot.

Longmuir said. "I have only had a couple of coaching sessions with Harold at the Oxfordshire and the PGA Championship at Wentworth but they have paid dividends. I have been struggling with my putting for about seven or eight years.

I was almost suffering from the yips. Basically, he has weakened my grip. My hands are quieter. And when you start to hole pulls you grow in confidence immensely. I am playing great."

Three strokes back sit Fraser Mann, of Musselburgh, after a four under par 69 in the first match of the morning and former PGA Cup player Peter Cowen.