Already a winner on the PGA Tour this year, Retief Goosen continued making progress toward rejoining golf’s elite Friday with an 8-under 63 on a gorgeous day at Loch Lomond for a two-shot lead in the Scottish Open.

Adam Scott (67) was right behind on the leaderboard, and can only hope he’s not too far behind in the recovery process.

Both reached as high as No. 3 in the world over the last four years, Scott most recently last summer during the U.S. Open. Both watched various parts of their game break down.

They will be in the final group Saturday at Loch Lomond, the final event before heading south to Turnberry for the British Open.

“We all want to play well,” said Goosen, who was at 11-under 131. “We all go through patches in this game. Nobody knows why. Otherwise, all of us would be No. 1, and that’s how it is.”

Scott refused to get derailed by a double bogey late in his round, answering with three birdies over his final four holes that allowed him to enjoy the sparkling blue water from Loch Lomond, and his name on the leaderboard.

“Nice to see it up there for a weekend, anyway,” Scott said. “Two rounds in the 60s in a row, pretty good for me.”

Martin Kaymer of Germany (65) and Marcus Fraser (66) of Australia were tied for third at 8-under 134. Nick Watney, an American making his European Tour debut, had a 68 and was in the group at 7-under 135.

The top four all played in the morning, the start of a spectacular summer day in Scotland with clear skies and virtually no wind.

Goosen slipped to No. 45 in the world at the end of last season, broke through with a victory at the Transitions Championship outside Tampa, Fla., and keeps giving himself more chances to win.

The only surprise was his opening tee shot, which he topped so badly that it went only 180 yards into the rough, and he had to lay up short of the water on the 455-yard hole. He hit 7-iron for his third shot to 25 feet and saved par.

The toughest part of Scott’s week has been dodging questions about tennis star Ana Ivanovic, with whom he has been linked romantically. Scott was courtside during Wimbledon. She has been outside the ropes at Loch Lomond, hard not to notice.

Asked if it helped to have a sports star with whom to relate, similar to Greg Norman’s marriage last year to Chris Evert, Scott smiled before saying, “I don’t know what to answer to that question. All areas of my life are in a good place right now.”