Ode to Choi: Korean ace leads Oosthuizen in Stockholm
KJ Choi was the clubhouse leader in the second round of the Nordea Scandinavian Masters today, Choi putting in a fine performance at the Bro Hof Slott course in Stockholm to top the leaderboard by two strokes from his nearest rival, and last week's emergent hero, Louis Oosthuizen.
Choi carded six birdies and an eagle on the 15th earlier today, finishing five-under-par 67 on the day, the big Korean topping the leaderboard on nine-under for the tournament. Notably, he did so using a conventional putting stroke; at last week's Open Championship the man nicknamed "Tank" had sampled a more unusual style of putt, reminiscent of a croquet strike. It didn't appear to do much for him, Choi missing the cut at St Andrews.
But if South Africa's Oosthuizen was less impressive today, he nevertheless did enough to remain in touch with the Korean. Last weekend's Open winner came home two-under today, a score that leaves him seven-under for the tournament. Oosthuizen's round featured six birdies, but also two bogeys and a double on the 17th, after his tee shot landed in the drink.
Even so, at just two off the pace the 27-year-old still has a chance to make it two wins in two weeks - and if he can, it will be the first time in history that a winner at the Open has gone on to win another European Tour event seven days later.
Sweden's Richard Johnson is also seven-under with three holes left to complete, while Northern Ireland's Michael Hoey, Italy's Edoardo Molinari and Argentina's Rafa Echenique are each on five-under, while trailing those are Sweden's Peter Hanson, America's Dustin Johnson and England's Gary Boyd among others, all tied for seventh place on four-under-par.
But Robert Karlsson's poor form continues; the Swede, rated as one of the favourites here before yesterday's opening, is currently labouring at three-over-par for today's round, having coming home one-over in the first round. Karlsson started encouragingly today with a birdie on the 2nd, but immediately followed that up with a bogey on the third - and has since found doubles on the 5th and 10th.
The 40-year-old, nicknamed the "Scientist" (because of his methodical nature, rather than any inclination to tamper with forces better left alone) would appear to have embarked upon a doomed experiment here. It certainly doesn't take any kind of egghead to see that Karlsson will miss the cut if he doesn't pull his finger out, and sharpish.
If Karlsson had a bad day, at least Rickie Fowler's performance put it into context. Having played as far as the 16th, Fowler has already carded three bogeys, the first coming as soon as the 2nd hole. But the real twist of the knife occurred on the 13th, where the 21-year-old Californian racked up a treble bogey eight.
Four over for the day, five-over for the tournament, it would take a feat beyond the ken of the craziest scientist to come up with a scenario where Fowler can make the cut tomorrow.
Of course, there are worse things than a mere dodgy round; playing only his second round since his return from a career-threatening problem with his back, Jesper Parnevik was forced to retire when pain from the injury recurred. The Swede has been out of the game since February, and this latest blow must throw any hope for the 45-year-old's future on the fairways in to doubt.
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