Colin Montgomerie stayed in contention with a 68.One Englishman whose day went pear-shaped before he reached the first tee was Greg Owen, who discovered he had missed out on a place at The Open that he was never aware could have been his. "I think that people like Ian Poulter, who are blessed with a tremendous amount of confidence, are in the minority, definitely."On a day when the field's biggest international names were a little off the pace - Ernie Els carded 70, Phil Mickelson a bogey-birdie mix for 67, Retief Goosen 71 and Adam Scott 70 (after spoiling two eagles with a triple bogey) - it was left to players from these shores to shine. Lawrie had one eagle and five birdies in a round where a bogey five on the second cost him a share of the lead.Liverpool's Nick Dougherty, who, like Little, sees this event as a last chance of qualifying for next week's Open, shot a 66 to leave him among a small following pack, including America's Tom Lehman. Lee Westwood, England's world No 39, shot a 65 in a bogey-free round for a share of third place, where Scotland's Paul Lawrie, the 1999 Open winner at Carnoustie, joined him. "Up to March, I was always, certainly not antsy, but maybe just thought I could do it [myself]."Little added that Morris works on "all of the issues that you're going to experience playing tournament golf", but especially confidence. The Manchester-based sports shrink has also worked with Northern Ireland's Darren Clarke, who had a 67 yesterday, and has been working with Little since March. "You come to a point where you see the light bulb go on and you feel as though you are able to take on board what people [such as psychologists] can offer," Little said.

We are now waiting for Inter to come back to us with their response."Emre's agent, Ahmet Bulut, added: "The situation is not clear yet, but I hope that by tomorrow morning it will be clear.". Stuart Little was more Tiger than mouse yesterday as he led a British contingent towards the top of the Scottish Open leaderboard. The 37-year-old journeyman pro from Gloucestershire carded a seven-under-par 64 for a share of the lead alongside Argentina's Angel Cabrera. Little attributed his recent good form, which led to a share of 13th place at last week's French Open, largely to the help of a sports psychologist, Karl Morris. However, the Scot hopes to bolster his midfield options today after tabling a firm offer for Internationale's Emre Belozoglu.The Turkish international has been in talks over a move to the North East from the San Siro for several weeks, only for Inter's £4m asking price to delay a deal.

However, Newcastle chairman Freddy Shepherd revealed yesterday: "We have been talking to the player with Inter's permission and we have now tabled an offer. The Wales international has signed a four-year deal," the club said in a statement.The striker resisted the chance to join Aston Villa, Birmingham and Celtic, the latter where he recovered from his bitter fall-out with Souness at the tail-end of last season on loan. He had been expected to seal a move to Goodison Park earlier this week but cooled on the idea following talks with the Everton manager David Moyes.Bellamy's move leaves Souness with only Alan Shearer, the injured Shola Ameobi and youngster Michael Chopra to lead the Newcastle line next season. The 25-year-old is believed to have signed a deal worth £45,000-a-week, and although that is a drop on his salary on Tyneside, Blackburn are believed to have provided a lucrative bonus package that will match his Newcastle wages through appearance and goal payments."Rovers have today completed the signing of Craig Bellamy.