Another -1 round for Ko

Kiwi golfer Lydia Ko has earned the same result from her second professional round as her first.

Ko has fired another one-under 71 at the LPGA titleholders event in Florida to be two-under for the tournament in a tie for 22nd.

 

She mixed two birdies in her first nine holes with a bogey on the back half.

Germany's Sandra Gal is maintaining her lead, out in front on nine-under.

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Tough going for Kiwis in Melbourne

New Zealand is well off the pace at the halfway stage of the World Cup of Golf at Royal Melbourne.
Michael Hendry and Tim Wilkinson have a combined score of 15 over par after two rounds, with Denmark leading by four shots at seven under. Hendry says it's hard work picking up shots. "To be honest I feel like I've played pretty good both days. It was really really tough to get the ball close to the hole with the thinness of the greens and the speed of the greens and if you're not hitting it within 10 feet it's really hard to get the ball down in two sometimes."Denmark's Thomas Bjorn leads the individual competition at eight under par, one shot clear of American Kevin Streelman.

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Live updates from Day 3 of the World Cup of Golf at Royal Melbourne

Jason Day waves to the crowd from the 18th green on Day 2 of the World Cup of Golf at Royal Melbourne.

 

JASON Day hung tough on Friday to keep Australia in the mix at the World Cup of Golf with a gritty one-under-par 70.

And despite some horror holes, fellow Queenslander Adam Scott also took giant strides through the field with an otherwise blemish-free 68.At the start of Saturday's third round, Australia's combined score of -3 leaves them seven adrift of leaders the US at -10, with Denmark at -7.

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Jason Day hangs tough to keep Aussies in hunt at Royal Melbourne

JASON Day is building a reputation as a major championship player - and yesterday he showed why.

As the majority of the World Cup field backed up on super-slick Royal Melbourne greens, Day didn't bring his A-game, but hung tough with a gritty one-under-par 70 to crawl - rather than surge - into a tie for third on a course he said had "major qualities".Even though Adam Scott - after his quintuple-bogey on day one - had a horrid double-bogey six on the 11th, he also took giant strides through the field with an otherwise blemish-free 68.Scott leapt to 21st at one-over as the Australian team jumped to a tie for third after its wobbly day one.Day could have been excused for losing his cool several times when the course nipped him.But three almost unbelievable lip-outs on birdie rolls were offset by a couple of mind-bending par saves, including one up-and-down from rough 60m right on the tough 16th that almost defied belief.

    World No. 2 Adam Scott watches his tee shot at the 14th.

 

Day's only lost stroke was in a scramble around the savagely sloping 11th green, but when the Fanatics put a smile on his face with a quick rendition of Horses on the next hole, his calm was restored."I was frustrated (after the 11th) and … this course can make you want to snap your clubs over your knees," Day said."But courses like this you have to grind out. If you shoot under par you make progress."It's so difficult, you just have to stick around and be patient. It's practically (like) playing like a major championship."You just have to bury bad shots. You have to because if you hold on to them, you make mental errors and when they start compounding, you're out of the tournament."Day, whose mother and sisters will arrive overnight for an emotional reunion after the family's tragedy last week in the Philippines, reiterated that Scott had the mettle to push up the leaderboard through the weekend.

Jason Day hits out of the rough behind a bunker on day two of the World Cup of Golf at Royal Melbourne.

 

And Scott, despite admitting he's tiring after a hectic homecoming schedule, insisted he would continue attacking the course, as he did yesterday with five birdies."I needed to have a decent score today and it was hard out there. I do not think there were too many great scores to be had because Royal Melbourne is playing tricky," Scott said.Scott remained confident Australia could win the teams event."It would be nice if I could play my way up there to the top few individually tomorrow and tee off around Jason (on Sunday)," he said."The teams competition … is well within our reach and six shots between two people can change very quickly so I think we are looking in good shape."

 

LEADERBOARDS AT END OF DAY 2

 

INDIVIDUAL

 

-8 Thomas Bjorn (Den)

 

-7 Kevin Streelman (US)

 

-4 Jason Day (Aus), Ricardo Santos (Por)

 

-3 Martin Laird (Sco), Stuart Manley (Wal), Matt Kuchar (US), Hideo Tanihara (Jpn)

 

TEAM

 

-10 United States

 

-7 Denmark

 

-3 Australia, Japan

 

-2 Portugal

 

E Scotland

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Graeme McDowell's love-hate relationship with Royal Melbourne stirs up so many emotions

  Graeme McDowell: "I love Melbourne and I love the golf course, but I'm not myself because I'm very frustrated and angry because of what the set-up does to you."

 

HE spoke with a surreal combination of someone in complete love, but who'd just been beaten around the head mercilessly for five hours.

Graeme McDowell loves Royal Melbourne, in fact the entire Sandbelt. It's not going too far to say it's becoming a fascination.So much so that after an extraordinary 36 holes including 11 birdies, eight bogeys, three double-bogeys and an eagle, the world No. 12 said he had considered moving here to practise before next year's British Open.The Northern Irishman said after his anything but even round of even-par 71 left him at one over and still in the mix that he's as "frustrated as hell"."(Playing partner) Jonas Blixt just told me there's a punch bag back at the hotel - we're going to meet there this evening and beat the s--- out of it," he joked."Don't mistake my negativity for whining and moaning about the conditions ... I genuinely love this course."The firmness of this course … is a great challenge and one that I think is a lost art among tour players.

 

    Graeme McDowell throws his club back to his caddy on the 10th fairway as he comes to terms with the Royal Melbourne layout.

 

"You get one shot a year at the British Open. At one point I was thinking I need to come and spend two months down here and learn how to play this type of golf again because to win the Open, this is what you've got to master."This is what Muirfield was like (in July)."Just as in his roller-coaster opening round, fan favourite McDowell looked set to tear the course apart several times with a string of early birdies yesterday.But when he hit a bad shot and slammed his club into the deck or muttered to his caddie, you could see the normally unflappable US Open champ wasn't at ease with the world."It's driving me insane, quietly," he said with a wry grin."I love Melbourne and I love the golf course, but I'm not myself because I'm very frustrated and angry because of what the set-up does to you."It's major-esque because you need to control your emotions to have a chance to score around here."I'm not completely in control of my golf ball and I'm not scoring well around the greens which is doubly annoying so these last two days are a case of what could have been."I've thrown three doubles at it … and I'm making uncharacteristic errors driven largely because I'm not controlling my emotions well enough out there because you feel like you should do better.

 

    Graeme McDowell hits out of the rough on the eighth hole.

 

"But then you look at the scoreboard and it's beating everyone up - it's tough, a great challenge."The most perplexing of the challenges to baffle McDowell yesterday was his 155m approach to the 10th hole that he simply couldn't believe trickled into the back bunker from where he couldn't salvage par despite a great trap shot."I'm going in there with a little cut 8-iron and allowing for 20 yards release and it goes over the back - it drives you insane - they're real British Open style greens."It's such a great course from the point of view that it begs you to take it on, then the second you do, it completely embarrasses you."I'm just making too many bogeys for this level of golf."But at +1, I just need to post two good rounds and … I could get back into top five or 10."Because I've made so many birdies and so many great strides forward, it's driving me insane to throw as many (shots) back to the course as I have."It's a lost art to score around these greens, even on someone like myself who grew up on links courses."I don't get a chance to experience this firmness and speed and brutality around the greens. It's brilliant. I just need to embrace the challenge a bit more this weekend."

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Dane Thomas Bjorn maintains composure to keep rivals at bay

    Thomas Bjorn watches the flight of his ball as he posted a three-under 68 on the second day.

PATIENCE is the virtue that wily Dane Thomas Bjorn will continue to summon to chase World Cup glory over the weekend. Bjorn maintained composure despite dropping shots on Royal Melbourne opening and closing holes for a three-under 68.He's at eight-under, one shot ahead of American Kevin Streelman (69), with Australian Jason Day (70) and Portugal's Ricardo Santos (69) three shots further back."If you stay patient, you don't need to do a lot to stay up near the lead. I never got ahead of myself,'' the 42-year-old Dane said."I wasn't thinking what score I was shooting. I just wanted to stay focused because on this golf course a lot of people are going to find it difficult."If you get aggressive, it becomes really, really difficult. That's why it's important to get a good start. If you're behind and chasing flags, it can be tough.''A winner of 20 tournaments around the world, Bjorn is revelling in the links-style demands of bump and run shots into the quickening putting surfaces. Start of sidebar. Skip to end of sidebar. End of sidebar. Return to start of sidebar. "Open golf suits my eye, it's on feel. I just love a good challenge. I patiently worked my way into the round and the back nine I played awesome,'' he said."When you step on these courses, you've got to be in awe of them. The set up out there was fantastic.''

Streelman threatened to blow away the rest of the field when the joint overnight leader grabbed birdies at each of the first four holes in a sensational start.But, like most of the 60 competitors, he struck trouble, dropping shots at the eighth and ninth."I did what you're supposed to on the first four holes,'' Streelman said.On the mid-round mishaps, the American said: "I just hit it to the wrong part of the golf course on eight and nine and Royal Melbourne will bite you if you do that."I wind kind of died halfway through the round. The greens are really moving and I don't see them getting any slower this weekend, so it's going to be a good battle.''Santos is the mysterious contender to Australian fans who's loving the weather that's similar to his home in Portugal.And he's relying on his deft touch around the greens to set himself up to challenge over the weekend." I think definitely the short game. Around the winds it's really important in this course,'' he said."You want to keep the ball in play and not be aggressive to the pins. You've just got to be careful with it and, if you're in position, then you can enjoy it.''

 

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Royal seal of approval after Jason Day criticises putting surfaces

    Jason Day reacts after missing a birdie putt on the 12th hole.

AUSTRALIAN Jason Day's suggestion that Royal Melbourne's greens were bordering on unfair drew stout defence yesterday.

 

World Cup official Andrew Langford-Jones reassured that the putting surfaces would not be any quicker for the weekend's rounds."What's fair and what's unfair? Downwind it is a real good test of golf. You need to perhaps bounce it in (to the greens),'' Langford-Jones, the Australasian PGA tour tournaments director, said."We're not playing American-style target golf. We're playing what Royal Melbourne is traditionally known for."I can assure you they will get no harder and no faster. We'll look at the forecast, see the direction of the wind and hole locations are normally planned around the direction of the wind."We don't intend to have a repeat of history that has happened in previous Australian Opens.''Officials here keep a close watch, particularly after the 2002 Australian Open first round at neighbouring Victoria golf club had to be abandoned when the greens became unplayable. Start of sidebar. Skip to end of sidebar. End of sidebar. Return to start of sidebar. Day was concerned when playing partner Graeme McDowell couldn't stop the ball on the ninth green with the approach shot.

    Jason Day misses another birdie putt on the 13th hole.

 

"G-Mac landed his just on the green and it bounced and rolled 30 paces. He was coming in with a short iron, so that is a little unfair, to have the ball bounce just where you would land it perfect just on the front of the green and it bounces 30 paces over the back,'' Day said."But other than that, I know they watered the greens last night and some were just a little inconsistent, but the course is in great shape. You kind of have to guess on holes how far it is really going to bounce.''Melbourne-based Langford-Jones said no player had complained to him over any aspect of the Composite course."I'm surprised by comments that the course is on the brink. I haven't had that from any other players,'' he said."It's hard, it's fast, the old lady is exactly where we would want it to be. It's a great test of golf and I think the scores are proving that."We look forward to an exciting weekend. We don't tend to soften it up or do anything else. It's a test of golf and I think most of the players are enjoying that challenge. There's always the option of turning the sprinklers on, but we don't want to do that."We want Royal Melbourne to play exactly how everyone expects it to play and that's hard and fast and bouncy. Good shots are stopping and good putts are going in."They are quick. We don't like to compare, but they're certainly no quicker than Augusta (National), maybe about the same. I think it's probably exactly how Royal Melbourne should be played.''

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Miguel Angel Jimenez attracting a new breed of fans to golf

VETERAN American journalist Dan Jenkins once described Miguel Angel Jimenez as having a warm-up routine that would get a stripper arrested. His belly stands proudly, almost as if to laugh at golf's modern athletes walking by and his curly red pony-tail makes him one of golf's most recognised faces.He adores fashion, particularly the 50-plus pairs of custom-made golf shoes by Gigi Nebuloni in Milan.He loves and works on cars - his 1999 Ferrari 550 Maranello his pride and joy.And then there are the cigars. Plural. "Two or three" a day, he says with more than hint of understatement.In short, he brings plenty to attract a new audience to the game.So much so that a hardy bunch of fans have generated a "Bring Miguel Angel Jimenez to Melbourne" Facebook page. Start of sidebar. Skip to end of sidebar. End of sidebar. Return to start of sidebar. Many of those admirers flocked to "The Mechanic" on Wednesday as he brought his game back to Royal Melbourne for the first time since 1992 to a constant wave of autograph and picture hunters - a fame he takes in his stride."I just give to the people something back, no? Do sign, do photos, we're happy, we're smiling - that's part of the deal," the Spaniard said as he prepared for the World Cup with partner Rafael Cabrera Bello."I like it here. People here are very nice here. It's nice to be back."He understands the mingling and even with his 50th birthday little more than a month away, he still loves his golf.But his passion for cigars knows no bounds, including being a trading partner with golf fanatic and basketball legend Michael Jordan."He's a good guy. Every time we see each other we exchange cigars … always Cuban," he said.As a rule, Jimenez doesn't smoke during tournaments, but in practice rounds and on the range, he totes with him a unique holder that keeps his precious Riojas off the ground so that a quick puff is never far from his reach.

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Ko hopes she's dealt with bunker issues

Ko hopes she's dealt with bunker issues

Kiwi golfer Lydia Ko hopes she's dealt with bunker issues heading into the second round of the LPGA Titleholders event in Florida.

Ko is one under in her first event as a pro, in a tie for 30th, seven shots off the pace.

The bunkers at the Tiberon club are filled with coquina shell waste, rather than the usual sand, which Ko found hard to adjust to.

"Because it's hard enough it feels I can hit it normally, but then it's quite hard to control.

"But I guess playing out of there more times I'll be able to learn it. But hopefully I won't be in there."

Ko is relatively happy with the first 18 holes of her professional golf career.

The young Kiwi has carded a one under par 71.

Ko says after a shaky opening seven holes where she was three over, she found her rhythm.

"I just made a double on three and then bogey on seven, and that didn't make things too well."

She says the birdie on eight got her day going.

Ko will go into the second round with her confidence up.

The Kiwi teenager posted four birdies in an unblemished final 10 holes.

Ko says she gave herself opportunities and needs to keep that going.

"Parr is sometimes good and all I can do is set up birdy putts, and then some will go in, some won't."

There's no cut at the tournament, which German Sandra Gal leads on eight under.

Meanwhile the New Zealanders are languishing near the bottom of the field during the second round of the Golf World Cup in Melbourne.

Michael Hendry is three over through 12 holes and seven over for the tournament, while Tim Wilkinson is two under through five holes but six over overall.

Denmark's Thomas Bjorn leads the field at two under through seven holes and seven under for the tournament.

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