It could be a bizarre scene on the Sunday night train down from Inverness Chris Doak in his trademark white bunnet sitting with champagne, the gleaming Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open trophy and an empty dog basket.
The 35-year-old from Greenock shot his second 66 of the championship to lead at the halfway stage at Castle Stuart once again defenceless despite some sign of wind and his travel arrangements for the end of the tournament are in question.
Chris’s wife-to-be Laura left Inverness with the car and Herbie, the couple’s dog immortalised as the “Parping Pooch” after his persistent flatulence kept his owner awake at a tournament last year.
However, she didn’t take the basket and Herbie’s bed has to get home by some method, even if the trip ends up also carrying the Scottish Open trophy, the £500,000 winner’s cheque and the last place in the Open Championship.
“I’ll maybe need to speak to the courtesy car people,” pondered “The Doak” as he contemplated the biggest weekend of his professional career, one that has already taken several tangents and turns to get to this highpoint.
Doak surged into the lead by way of attacking the Castle Stuart par fives for an eagle and three birdies, with only one dropped stroke at the short 17th as a minor blemish.
This is rarified air for the Greenock man, whose best previous performance in an intermittent European Tour career was sixth place winning £28,000 in the Austrian Open last year.
However, he believes he’s mentally tuned to coping with the pressure that this weekend could bring, thanks to help from a friend and from his coach, the venerable swing guru Bob Torrance.
“I’m a lot better at the mental side now,” he said. “Bob has helped me with that, and it’s great having him at tournaments, but he’s taught me so well that I know by the way the ball is going what is right or wrong.
“I’ve worked with him for the last four or five years and the improvement is obvious. I’ve done a little work psychologically as well.”
The other aspect that turned Doak from being for a long time the Tartan Tour’s best player into a European Tour player was committing to the Challenge Tour.
“It’s a tough environment there, you learn to be a touring professional,” he said. “My first year on Tour I was wet behind the ears, but the Challenge Tour taught me to be consistent.”
The influence of fiance Laura has been key as well, but she’s left with Herbie.
“The dog had to be taken back, but they left the dog basket so that’ll have to go with me on the train back home,” he said.
In the meantime, he has the perfect answer to the question pointing out that plenty of Scots have got in the mix at the home Open and not quite pulled it through.
“We’ll just shut up about that,” he replied.
Torrance has no doubt his pupil can go on and close the deal.
“He has the mental strength to handle the weekend. If he keeps his swing together he’ll win it,” said the master coach.
“He’s not frightened and mentality is the key. He was laughing this morning on the range and saying ‘it doesn’t bother me, Bob.”
Doak seems to be a natural kind of player but that doesn’t exist, says Bob.
“We’ve changed a lot in his swing and now it’s just a matter of coordination. That’s what he lacks sometimes.
“There’s no such thing as a natural golfer, just some people with more talent. Golf is an unnatural game so you can’t have a natural swing.
“Doaky’s got a great touch and feel around the greens and in the bunkers. His putting isn’t that good, but it can’t be too bad when he’s 12-under.”
The Scot set his mark just after lunch and it withstood serious assaults throughout the afternoon, with four different players left trailing by a shot once play had been completed.
Only former Ryder Cup player Ross Fisher, on 11-under after a faultless 65, might be familiar to the occasional golf fan. As had been the case on Thursday, a sudden drop in the wind allowed a flurry of scoring, this time at the tail of the field.
The biggest names closest to the lead was Swede Henrik Stenson, recovering his form gradually after a 12-month spell spent struggling, Francesco Molinari on nine-under and Phil Mickelson, who had two early bogeys but recovered to a decent 70 to lie at eight-under.
Open champion Ernie Els, a late entrant into the event, can head to Muirfield early after missing the cut on two-under.
For more coverage from Castle Stuart, see Saturday’s Courier