Brett Rumford leads the Ballantine’s Championship by three strokes – European Tour
The Ballantine’s Championship comes to a half-way stage. Two rounds of this four-day event completed at the par-72, Blackstone Golf Course in Seoul, Korea. The second round once again produced some fireworks as a lot of players were in red numbers.
It was the three-time European Tour winner, Brett Rumford, who took the charge early in the day and emerged as a leader. Rumford carded an excellent round of nine-under par, 63. His round included nine birdies and was bogey-free for the day. He leads the field by a good margin of three shots.
Rumford now has a good advantage to take full use of his three stroke lead and keep his name on top of the leader-board. He had a total of nine-birdies on his score-card. Some of his birdie putts were more than 15-feet long as his broom putter helped him a lot.
The Australian Rumford was stroking the ball well on the greens. It looked like he was playing on his home course. The 33-year-old looked in great touch with his putter and also hit some great approach shots. He also saved some long par putts which helped him post his name on the leader-board.
This was a hammering round for the Australian who almost equalled the course's record. He started his day being tied for the 19th position, as he improved his position after finishing his second round. Rumford has a two-day aggregate score of ten-under par, 134.
Rumford is eager to win this championship this year. His last win on the European Tour came at Omega European Masters almost four years back. The Australian finished tied for the second spot last year and is keen to win this year.
After his round, Rumford said, "I'm in a position now to be thinking about winning, that's for sure. Maybe at the start of the week, not so, as I haven't come into this week with that great of a form. But this is a funny game and it can change from week to week."
Two experienced veterans share the second place after 36-holes. Dane Soren Kjeldsen and Miguel Angel Jimenez of Spain are tied and three behind the leader. They have a two round aggregate score of seven-under par, 137.
As for Kjeldsen, he was simply fantastic on his front-nine. He made a total of five birdies on his front nine and two on his back-nine. The Dane had a total of seven birdies and a bogey and carded a round of six-under par, 66. He jumped seventeen places on the leader-board and now shares the second spot.
It was the crisp iron shots and putter of Kjeldsen which helped him manage this score. It was a great display of golf by the professional from Denmark. He will certainly pose a threat for the leader on the third round as he is putting well on the greens.
The veteran Jimenez played steady golf during his round. He carded a great round of five-under par, 67 and looked in great shape with his beautiful swing. The Spaniard was hitting the ball accurately of the tee and also had a few great approach shots. He made seven birdies and two bogeys during his round of 67.
The Spaniard is certainly back in form this season and is hoping to grab his first victory this year. He won three times on the European Tour last season.
World number one Lee Westwood played steady golf during his second round. He posted a good score of four-under par, 68 which included seven birdies and three bogeys. Westwood is now tied for the 11th spot and is six strokes behind the leader.
Westwood has a two-day aggregate score of four-under par, 140.
As for the defending champion, Marcus Fraser, he looked a bit out of sorts. Although he managed to shot two-under par, 70, he still did not holed his birdie putts. Fraser missed some of his birdie putts and is placed way behind on the leader board.
The projected cut-line score after two rounds was at one-over par. Three-time Majors champion, Ernie Els, and Englishman, Ian Poulter, were among the notable players who failed to make it through the cut-line score.
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