Ian Poulter extends his lead in the JBWere Australian Masters as Luke Donald still lurking in shadows
Englishman Ian Poulter has successfully managed to extend his overnight lead through the halfway mark at the JBWere Australian Masters and is now leading the event by two strokes and will be hoping to clinch the title over the weekend. Pulling in a six-under,
65 on the first day, Poulter carded a humble three-under, 68 on the second day to maintain the lead over the fast approaching competitor Australian Mathew Giles.
Poulter struggled on the front nine but decided to go on the offensive on the back nine, carding three birdies and bogey at par- for, 11th in the process. He scored four birdies in all. Poulter is now poised at nine-under, 133 on the aggregate
while Giles is two shots behind the leader with an aggregate of seven-under, 135. Giles found almost as many birdies on the second day as he stumbled on bogeys on alternate holes all through the 18-hole stretch. He carded six birdies and lost three of them
on three bogeys.
Countryman Ashley Hall, who carded an amazing 66 on the opening day, has decided to stay in contention, carding a round one-under, 70 on the second, finishing for an outright third. His second round was barely a shadow of his performance in the first round
where he carded six birdies, and an eagle.
Grizzled Australian veteran Geoff Ogilvy had an impressive day, when he shot to the top ranks with a blistering 66 on the second day. After succumbing to a lopsided even-par, 71 on the first day, Ogilvy pulled in five-under, 66 which included five birdies,
an eagle at par-five, 9th and two bogeys.
World number one Luke Donald continued with his sloppy performance on the second day, carding one-under, 70 with four birdies, a bogey and a double-bogey.
"I hit a lot of good shots today but I've been struggling on the greens," he said. “I'm finding it hard to see the line and missing my fair share of chances for birdie. Hopefully I'm saving them all for the weekend. I'm still in a decent position, I just
need to get that putter going and get on a roll."
Donald won the European Tour Player of the Year on Thursday, December 15 and has come out to be the most successful player of the year on both sides of the Atlantic.
Tags: