Martin Laird slumps from 69 to 76 in second round of Wells Fargo
Scot Martin Laird, well in the mix with an opening round of 69, crashed to a 76 today (Friday) in the second round of the US PGA Tour's Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow.
SKYSPORTS.COM
By Keith Jackson
Steve Wheatcroft and Andrew
Loupe upstaged a host of elite PGA Tour stars as they claimed a share of
the lead after the first round of the Wells Fargo Championship.
Wheatcroft
and Loupe made light of tricky scoring conditions as they opened with
excellent seven-under 65s at Quail Hollow in Charlotte to snatch the
lead away from early clubhouse leader Anirban Lahiri.
Justin Rose
got to within three of the lead only to make a mess of the final hole
and close with a double-bogey that dropped him back to two under with
fellow Englishmen Ian Poulter, Paul Casey and Greg Owen, while Phil
Mickelson is a shot better alongside big-hitting Scot Martin Laird.
But it was a tough day for the highest-ranked players in the field, with defending champion Rory McIlroy
and recent form horse Adam Scott firing erratic 73s, while Henrik
Stenson fired a 72 and Rickie Fowler needed a late birdie to get under
the card.
Wheatcroft put together an entertaining round which
featured a pitch in for eagle at the fifth and another eagle-three at
the 10th after he hammered a 280-yard second to six feet. He also added
five birdies although two dropped shots cost him the outright lead.
The
American journeyman soon had company at the top of the leaderboard when
Loupe completed a flawless round which included a run of four birdies
over six holes in a superb, outward 31.
Lahiri defied the cold and
damp early conditions as he got up and running with three birdies in
four holes from the fourth, and the Indian ace picked up further shots
at 10, 15 and 16 while also keeping a bogey off his card.
Kevin
Chappell and Dawie van der Walt are a further shot adrift, while
Mickelson offset two birdies with bogeys at the second and ninth on the
front nine before vaulting up the leaderboard with a composed, inward
33.
Poulter started at the 10th and birdied 12 and 13 before
parring his remaining 14 holes to stay at two under, and Casey had four
birdies against two bogeys - including a late blemish at the 17th - as
he also fired a 70.
Rose
got off to a dreadful start with bogeys at the second and third, but he
responded with three birdies in four holes and added two more at 10 and
14 before producing one of the shots of the day at the par-five next,
pitching to within two feet of the cup despite being hampered by the
out-of-bounds fence after a wayward second.
The
resulting birdie got him to four under, but he undid much of his good
work at the last when he pulled his second from the fairway, chipped to
15 feet and raced his par putt eight feet past the cup before missing
the return.
Fowler, who claimed his breakthrough PGA Tour win at
Quail Hollow four years ago, managed to break par despite knocking his
tee-shot into water at the tough 17th and running up a double-bogey
five, and two-time major champion Martin Kaymer slipped back to one
under after he bogeyed the final two holes.
Defending
champion McIlroy was in serious trouble when he double-bogeyed the 18th
- his ninth - to plummet to four over par, but he regrouped on the
front nine and three consecutive birdies from the fifth helped him claw
his way back to one over.
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