Aussie duo on top at Moonah
BY iseekgolf.com | Australasian PGA Tour | 2008 Moonah Classic | Round Two | 22 Feb 2008
The Australian duo of Ewan Porter and Wayne Perske have held onto a one shot lead, and are tied for six under at the end of round two of the Moonah Classic at Moonah Links in Victoria.
Starting in the morning groups overnight leader Porter shot one under 71 for the second round whilst Perske who started twenty minutes later shot the round of the day, a 5 under 67 to match Porters score on Thursday, joining him in a one shot lead over West Australian Rick Kulacz.
The aussie trio players made the most of the morning conditions that included drizzling rain but managed to get just the end of a strong wind, which didn’t start blowing until late morning. The winds picked up significantly making life extremely tough for those out in the afternoon on the challenging Mornington Peninsula layout.
The Australians hold the top four places with 48 year old Queenslander Terry Price one shot back in outright fourth on 4 under after two rounds of 2 under 70.
Second overnight, American Fran Quinn, who spent time at the top of the leaderboard on six under today, stumbled coming home and shot a 73 to be fifth at minus three.
Twenty five year old Porter who was in the outright lead at the start of the day bogeyed 11 to start poorly but was square for the day at the turn after adding two birdies and a bogey, before another hat-trick of birdies on the front nine – undone somewhat by a couple of bogeys – kept his name up there.
“At the end of the day I am over the moon to shoot one under par because I really did not play that well,” Porter, from Cronulla in Sydney’s south said. “I didn’t play anywhere near as good as yesterday. I grinded it out. My short game, two days in a row, has held me in there.”
Porter has now been in the lead for two days, a somewhat new situation for him. Starting in the last group tomorrow he is expecting some nerves but is backing himself.
“There is no doubt I will be nervous but I tend to play my best when I am a bit nervous. I’m confident with the way I am playing. Its probably another cliché but if you’re not feeling nervous it probably means your not passionate enough.”
33 year old Perske, who grabbed an eagle at the 2nd on day one, made early birdies at the 2nd and 3rd holes before giving one back at the 4th, but three more birdies in four holes from the 12th and a fifth at the last saw him home in 32.
“It was pretty windy out there in stages,” Perske said. “I’m pretty happy with that score. I didn’t make many mistakes and I could have gone a couple better. It makes me feel good for the weekend.”
The Queenslander who has been a member of the Australasian Tour since 2000 knows how to handle himself at the front of the field. He won the 2006 Token Homemate Cup. on the increasingly competitive Japan Golf Tour.
One shot behind the pair is 22 year old West Australian Rick Kulacz. Two-under at the start of the day, Kulacz went out in 34 thanks to a birdie hat-trick, only for successive bogeys at the 13th and 14th holes to drop him back to even, but he responded with three birdies in four holes to close out his round.
“I did not hit a great tee shot but I got away with it,” Kulacz said of the way he played the last. “It was nice to finish with a birdie. I birdied three of the last four so I could not ask for much more.”
A former Australian junior champion and IFJG World Junior Champion Kulacz turned professional late last year but already had runs on the board after becoming the first amateur to win on the Von Nida Tour taking out the 2006 NSW Open in a play-off. The following week was paired with Greg Norman in the third round of the Australian Open at Royal Sydney – shooting an impressive 71.
A further shot behind Kulacz is veteran aussie Terry Price on 4 under with overnight second placed American Fran Quinn one over for the round and dropping back to 3 under, followed by Aussie Adam Bland, and Americans Gibby Gilbert and Tee McCabe at 2 under at the end of their rounds.
Price made his move with three birdies and a lone bogey on the back nine, before following a run of eight successive pars with a bogey at the 8th that he immediately atoned for with a fourth bogey at the 9th.
After holding the outright lead thanks to birdies at the opening two holes, Quinn remained tied for the lead at five under at the turn despite two subsequent bogeys, but another bogey double coming home cost him some ground.
Australian Adam Bland and American Gilbert Gibby III both carded 69s to be equal sixth on two under with American Tee McCabe who was five under before he finished with three bogeys on the final four holes.
Scott Laycock (69) and Alistair Presnell (72) and Americans Ricky Barnes (72), Bret Guetz (71), and Bryce Moulder who grabbed a hole in one at the 7th round out the top 10 on minus one.
Ten players finished at even par including Australasians Wade Ormsby (72), Matthew Millar (70) and Mahal Pearce whilst Aaron Price (70), Josh Geary (73), Steve Collins (71), Paul Marantz (75) and Ryan Haller (74) are a further shot back and T22.
A large group of 19 players sits on 2 over including Jarrod Lyle, Bronson La Cassie, Peter O’Malley, Marc Leishman, Michael Long, Grant Waite, Tim Wise, Paul Sheehan, Won Joon Lee and Jarrod Moseley.
Lyle and O’Malley had both recovered into red figures earlier in the day, only to drop back as their rounds went on, but while Lyle carded a second-straight 73 and O’Malley added a 72 as both finished at plus two, they safely made the cut.
Also coming back for the weekends rounds are Peter Senior (3), Peter Fowler (4), Greg Chalmers (4) and Paul Gow (4).
The third round of the Moonah Classic begins tomorrow with the first groups taking to the course at 7:35am.
Source – PGA Tour
