Jaidee, Goya share lead at Ballentine's
Thailand's Thongchai Jaidee put in an epic shift (in golfing terms, at least) earlier today at the Ballentine's Championship in South Korea, playing 35 holes to tie for the top of the leaderboard with Argentina's Tano Goya.
Both players finished eight-under-par in total after finishing all 18 holes of the second round today. Jaidee shot seven birdies but also carded a bogey on the 6th to come home five-under, while the Argentine shot four birdies and three bogeys to finish two-under on the day.
However, with time being called on the day's play before round two could conclude, there's no guarantee Jaidee or Goya will still be at the top of the leaderboard once the round concludes tomorrow.
Yesterday's leader Marcus Fraser is tied for third place on seven under, but that scoreline is more than a little misleading; Fraser has yet to begin his second round. The same goes for England's Mark Foster, now fifth on six-under. And Ernie Els, Anthony Kim and England's Oliver Fisher are amongst those yet to start the second round, though all three players remain in contention, four-under-par.
Confused? Well, the co-sanctioned European and Asian Tour event at Pinx Golf Club, Jeju Island in South Korea teed off yesterday, but play was delayed for more than six hours as thick fog blanketed the course, preventing many players from even beginning their first round.
Under the circumstances, the organisers have taken the decision to cut the event from 72 holes to 54, opting to get the first round out of the way today and then play the second round over both today and Saturday. Sunday's third round will therefore decide the tournament.
Local hero YE Yang seems unlikely to make that finale. A winner at last week's Volvo China Open, not to mention being Asia's first major winner, Yang hails from Jeju Island but disappointed his home crowd today, the 38-year-old likely to miss the cut after finishing both rounds with scores of 77 and 73, six-over-par in total. Punters who backed him to shine here will no doubt be disappointed not to have received more Yang for their bucks.
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