THE name Kenneth Ferrie, the North-East's lone and largely unknown Open Championship hope, sits high on the leaderboard. Higher than Ernie Els, higher than Tiger Woods and even higher than Greg Norman.

At Royal Troon yesterday the Ashington golfer turned in a performance that maintained his recent good form and placed him firmly in contention going into today's second round.

Ferrie is tied fourth, among a clutch of players including former US Masters champion Vijay Singh, after posting a 68 and rests two shots adrift of leading pair Paul Casey and Frenchman Thomas Levet.

It is only the second time the region's leading player has taken part in the Open and he has given himself a great opportunity to progress into the weekend's play.

And Ferrie, who finished the day with a fine birdie on the 457-yard 18th, has warmed to the prospect of having to repeat his opening round achievement if he wants to keep in touch with top spot.

"It's not too different to playing on the European Tour," said the 25-year-old, who finished 16th in the Scottish Open last weekend. "I've been playing on the Tour now for four years and playing at Loch Lomond did help me to come to terms with Troon.

"Obviously it's a little more special to play in the Open and it's a great experience just to be involved. I really enjoyed it out there. I like the fact that when you go around somewhere like Troon there are so many different shots that you have to hit.

"Normally you just have to hit your ball right down the middle, but not here.

"I'm pleased with how my first day went but there's still a long way to go. I've given myself a chance and I want to try to make sure I'm here on Sunday."

In this form there is no reason why the final day's play at the 133rd Open Championship should not include Ferrie, who has only missed five cuts all season.

Had he not bogeyed nine and 13 then Casey and Levet may have had someone else for company ahead of the rest on five under par.

But Ferrie, who recently bought a luxury flat in Newcastle, bounced back to show enough magic to instil plenty of confidence going into today's second round.

Birdies at the third, sixth, seventh and eighth had actually handed him the lead but the slip up at the ninth dropped him a shot short of Levet and then a further bogey at 13 could well have knocked the stuffing out of him.

However, not allowing confidence to wane, the 2003 Spanish Open champion steadied his nerve to par the next four holes before birdying the last and now his eyes are firmly fixed on teeing off at 3.48pm today after being handed a tough draw.

For Casey, meanwhile, what a difference a year makes. Twelve months on from starting the Open with a horror round of 85 which he admitted left him "embarrassed and looking stupid" England's Casey shot a 66 to set the pace.

The 26-year-old from Surrey, who 11 years ago was one of the youngsters working on the leaderboards at the event, outscored playing partner and current Masters champion Phil Mickelson by an impressive seven strokes.

It was also three better than favourite Els, who holed-in-one at the "Postage Stamp" eighth but double-bogeyed the 17th, and four better than Woods. According to Mickelson, Casey could have been even further ahead of him.

"That was an easy five under," said the American, "and the way he played I wouldn't be surprised one bit if he is on top on Sunday."

Casey, joined by Levet just four days after the Frenchman's Scottish Open victory gave him a place at Troon, was thrilled at erasing the memory of that nightmare opening at Sandwich last year.

"It's a sign I'm more relaxed and not getting in my own way now. Major championships are a big deal, but you have to treat them as every other event. If you don't then 85s happen," he said.

That was a reference to his sixth place on his debut in the Masters at Augusta, by far the best performance of his career in the majors so far. He has played only six others - and missed the cut in five of them.

Casey is aiming big, though. He openly admits his target is to join the elite group of Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player and Tiger Woods who have won career Grand Slams.

Casey, who won all his four games in the Walker Cup victory over America at Nairn in 1999, turned professional after finishing second in the world amateur team championship and was a college star at Arizona State.

That was where he first met Mickelson and since he has kept a home in Scottsdale they have played many rounds together.

As well, of course, as repeat a round in which he made up for bogeys on the ninth and 12th with birdies at the first, fourth, eighth, tenth, 11th, 16th and 18th. The final two came with putts of 30 and 16 feet.

A smile has not left Levet's face since he shot his closing 63 at Loch Lomond and suddenly had to change plans for a week off.

The 35-year-old, beaten by Els at Muirfield two years ago only at the fifth hole of a play-off, had four birdies in five holes from the fourth and had the added bonus of a 33-foot putt on the 222-yard 17th.

Darren Clarke, runner-up at Troon in 1997, and Colin Montgomerie, playing on his home course, both shot 69 - Clarke double-bogeyed the last after sending his five-iron approach over the green and out of bounds at the last - but Padraig Harrington could manage only a 76 and Sergio Garcia did only one better.