At Troia in round 2 of the 2023 TEG Trophy, David Mullin moved past Gregg Williams into outright second. Neumann's lead at the top widened from five shots to seven. Williams, meanwhile, was defending a Green Jacket lead that grew from three to four, and doing so through the middle of a genuinely miserable round. From the 8th to the 11th he went four holes without a net par, including three straight double bogeys from the 9th through the 11th. Six gross shots gone across those three holes. He then produced a second drought from the 13th to the 15th, three more double bogeys in a row, the last on the 15th, one of the hardest holes on the course. Six double bogeys in eight holes is a body of work.

None of it loosened his grip on the Jacket. It was, however, enough for Mullin to go past him in the Trophy. Neumann sits clear at the top after the second round, unbothered.

Alex Baker's first visit to Troia came in two acts, both of them grim. The trouble began at the 4th with a triple bogey, which opened a stretch that shed 13 shots over six holes through to the 9th. That included double bogeys at the 1st and 6th stroke-index holes. Baker halted the run with a birdie at the 10th, one of only two net gains he made all round. He was allowed to enjoy it briefly.

From the 13th to the 17th another 13 shots leaked away. Triple bogeys at the 13th, 14th and 15th. Three holes running without a single net par, the 15th among the hardest on the course. The triple at the 13th also dropped him to the bottom of the TEG 16 Wooden Spoon race, which is the sort of thing a man notices.

And yet the damage did not widen the gap he needed to close. The margin to the next-worst player in the Spoon race shrank from four shots to three. Baker remains within touching distance, which is a peculiar thing to be told after a round like that. It was a small mercy from a miserable debut. The round stands as his only Troia score to date.

Gregg Williams took a three-stroke lead into the second round of the 2023 TEG Green Jacket at Troia Golf Championship Course. He then fell apart with real commitment. From the 8th he went four holes without a net par: a bogey at the 8th, then double bogeys at the 9th, 10th and 11th. The last of those came on the easiest hole on the course. There was a brief respite. It meant nothing. The collapse resumed at the 13th with three more consecutive double bogeys, six gross shots gone across holes 13 to 15, the par-5 14th and the second-hardest hole on the course included.

Jon Baker audited the wreckage in real time. He drew level for the Green Jacket gross lead with a bogey at the 11th, then drew level again with a par at the 14th, right in the teeth of the meltdown. Level was as far as he got. Williams held firm elsewhere on the card. By the close he had somehow stretched his Green Jacket lead to four shots. Some men lose ground while collapsing. Williams gained it.