LOCH LOMOND (Scotland), July 8: Jos Vanstiphout, the sports psychologist who helped Ernie Els and Retief Goosen win major titles, worked his magic once more to help Marteen Lafeber into the half-way lead at the Scottish Open on Friday.

The Dutchman had eight birdies in a flawless second round of 63 to move to 12-under for the tournament, one shot clear of first round joint leader Angel Cabrera, who added a 67 to his opening 64.

Darren Clarke (65), Jonathan Lomas (65) and Scotland’s Alistair Forsyth (64) were a shot further back.

Big guns in the chasing pack include Els, who moved to six under after a second round 66 that might easily have been a few shots better, and former European number one Lee Westwood (69) on eight under.

Since winning his own national open in 2003, Lafeber had, by his own admission, lost his way and what was once a highly promising career appeared headed towards a dead end.

Frustrated at his failure to reproduce his form of two years ago, he turned to Vanstiphout less than 24 hours before teeing off here.

“I talked to him on Wednesday afternoon and he said ‘how are you doing?’, Lafeber said.

“I said I’m doing fine, playing solid all year but the mental side is really letting me down. My self-confidence is low and I’m just struggling on the golf course.

“He said ‘let’s start working again and see how it goes.’ I got positive really quick and yesterday and today I played and felt really comfortable. So it is paying off very quickly.”

Clarke moved into contention with the help of four birdies over the closing four holes. But he was far from happy with his game.

Clarke could scarcely complain about his form on the greens — according to his playing partner Colin Montgomerie, Friday’s round included just 22 putts.

That kind of performance will stand Clarke in good stead at St Andrews during next week’s British Open.

But he insisted he would be heading for the Old Course with his expectations somewhere between “none” and “zero.”

Clarke returned to action in last week’s European Open in Ireland after taking a lengthy break to be with his wife Heather, who is being treated for cancer.

South Africa duo Richard Sterne (68) and Tim Clark (66) are three shots off the lead.

John Deere scores

SILVIS, ILLINOIS (United States): Scores from the U.S. PGA Tour John Deere Classic at the par-71 course on Thursday