Strange and Wood lead Mercedes
BY Bruce Young | European PGA Tour | 2009 Mercedes-Benz Championship | Round Two | 12 Sep 2009
Australian Scott Strange and Englishman Chris Wood lead after 36 holes of the Mercedes-Benz Championship in Cologne in Germany, the pair being presented with the lead after one of the pre tournament favourites and 2007 champion, Soren Hansen, double bogeyed his final hole on day two.
Strange has a place in this restricted field courtesy of his victory in China earlier this season and the highly promising Wood because of his ranking inside the top 75 in the world. The pair has a one shot lead over Dane, Hansen, England’s Ross Fisher and South Africa’s James Kingston.
Wood has made the cut in all but one of the last 15 tournaments in what is his rookie season on the European Tour further highlighting the immense talent the tall 21 year old displayed when finishing 5th behind Padraig Harrington at the 2008 Open Championship as an amateur.
Strange has had rather an ordinary run since his win in China in April with just one top ten at the French Open and missed the cut in his last event in Switzerland last week. He is however still inside the top 50 on this season’s European Tour money list.
Rod Pampling is the only other Australian in the field, earning a start as a result of his win at the Australian Masters last season and is at 1 under par and eight behind the lead.
New Zealanders Mark Brown and Michael Campbell are both a long way back in the field although the good news for them is that the tournament has no cut and therefore both players will play the weekend.
