European No 1 Lee Westwood misses the cut by five shots
Mystery man from Down Under leads
the stars at halfway in Abu Dhabi
FROM THE AOL GOLF NEWS SERVICE
Little-known Australian Rick Kulacz blazed 11 birdies in a nine-under-par 63 second round to snatch a one-shot halfway lead at the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship today.
The 24-year-old Perth, Western Australia native secured limited playing rights on the European Tour with a final round 64 at Q-School last year - a round he rates as his best ever, given what was at stake - but was handed a spot in the field this week via a sponsor's invite.
The two-time winner on the Asian Tour took full advantage to charge up the leaderboard to 12-under-par, clear of Sergio Garcia, Shane Lowry and Peter Hanson.
While Kulacz's round, a figure Paul Casey also posted en route to winning last year, is an achievement in itself, it is made all the more remarkable, given the fact he was so unhappy with his pre-tournament practice he needed a phone call to his coach back home on Wednesday to iron out the flaws in his game.
"I was just in the zone. I tried to get it on the green and every putt went in, it was just one of those days where everything went right," said Kulacz, who dropped just one shot in his first round 69.
"That round is definitely top five in my career. I think the one at Q-School was better under the circumstances; to get to Europe was pretty special."
Kulacz shot a final-round 65 to come back from four behind to win New South Wales Open as amateur in 2006, while he achieved a first win as a professional courtesy of a chip in on the first play-off hole at the 2008 Brunei Open.
"I will have to see if I can deal with the pressure, it's a totally different story than Q-School," added Kulacz. "The players are the best in the world excluding the USA and they are way too good to go backwards."
Irish Open champion Lowry carded a bogey-free seven-under-par 65, world number 13 Garcia dropped just one shot in a 67, while Sweden's Hanson went one better with a flawless five-under-par second round over The National Course at Abu Dhabi Golf Club.
Former champion and last year's runner-up Martin Kaymer (67), Chris Wood, who carded a bogey-free 64, and Rhys Davies (68) are just a further shot off the pace with Rory McIlroy and Ian Poulter in a group at nine-under-par.
The "biggest" casualty among the non-qualifiers for the final two rounds was European No 1 Lee Westwood but he quashed suggestions that missing the cut was a reality check following his storming finish last year.
Westwood produced an unstoppable end to 2009 to claim a second Order of Merit title and headed to Abu Dhabi for the start of the Desert Swing as one of the obvious favourites. But after being forced to put a new set of irons in his bag to comply with the new rules regarding grooves following a six-week Christmas break, Westwood carded a six-over-par second round 78 to miss the cut by five shots with six bogeys spread across his card today.
"It's just a bit rust. There were a lot of variables this week. My caddie was pointing out going round, 'What a time to change your clubs when you are playing your best golf'," said Westwood.
"The way I've driven it, I flushed it off the tee, I just need to do some work with my irons. I don't know if they've put the wrong shafts in, they just don't feel right and they don't feel the same.
"They feel like fishing rods. I don't think it's much to do with the grooves, I just haven't had a chance to go out there and do any testing."
Westwood will get a new set of irons flown out while he will also re-shaft his current set ahead of next week's Commercialbank Qatar Masters.
"Thursday's score was just a really good 69. It could have easily been 77 the way I played," he added. "I got away with murder yesterday and today I didn't."
A winner in South Africa before Christmas in his last outing, Aberdeen's Richie Ramsay was one of four Scots who failed to achieve the two-under-par 142 or better total necessary to survive the halfway cut.
Ramsay was always going to struggle to survive after a first-round 75 but he did give it a go with a 70 for 145. Other Scots on the sidelines are David Drysdale (72-143), Stephen Gallacher (74-144) and Alastair Forsyth (75-150).
At the other end of the leaderboard, Paul Lawrie had a 70 for eight-under-par 136 and, in joint 12th position, only four shots off the pace, the Aberdonian has a good platform from which to mount a challenging effort over the final 36 holes.
Marc Warren has had a pair of 69s for 138; Gary Orr a 71 for 140 while Ryder Cup skipper Colin Montgomerie stepped up his standard of performance with a 68 for 141.
SECOND-ROUND TOTALS
Par 144 (2x72)
132 Rick Kulacz (Aus) 69 63
133 Peter Hanson (Swe) 66 67, Shane Lowry 68 65, Sergio Garcia (Spa) 66 67
134 Chris Wood 70 64, Martin Kaymer (Ger) 67 67, Rhys Davies 66 68
135 Rory McIlroy 66 69, Ian Poulter 65 70, Richard Green (Aus) 70 65, Ariel Canete (Arg) 70 65, Edoardo Molinari (Ita) 69 66
136 Daniel Vancsik (Arg) 66 70, Francesco Molinari (Ita) 68 68, Paul Lawrie 66 70, Alvaro Quiros (Spa) 66 70
137 Hennie Otto (Rsa) 70 67, Thomas Aiken (Rsa) 67 70, Steve Webster 68 69, Jeppe Huldahl (Den) 70 67, Richard Finch 69 68, Keith Horne (Rsa) 65 72
138 Marc Warren 69 69, Mikko Ilonen (Fin) 71 67, Paul Waring 68 70, Louis Oosthuizen (Rsa) 67 71, Mark Foster 68 70
139 Richard Bland 65 74, Anders Hansen (Den) 69 70, Soren Hansen (Den) 72 67, David Horsey 73 66, Nick Dougherty 71 68, Simon Dyson 72 67, Thongchai Jaidee (Tha) 69 70, Johan Edfors (Swe) 70 69, Anthony Wall 71 68, Stephen Dodd 66 73, Jamie Donaldson 70 69, Camilo Villegas (Col) 71 68
140 Gary Orr 69 71, Brett Rumford (Aus) 71 69, Anthony Kim (USA) 70 70, Alexander Noren (Swe) 66 74, David Dixon 71 69, James Kamte (Rsa) 72 68, Marcus Fraser (Aus) 71 69, Ross McGowan 69 71
141 Colin Montgomerie 73 68, David Howell 69 72, Geoff Ogilvy (Aus) 72 69, Paul Broadhurst 71 70, Thomas Bjorn (Den) 71 70, Paul Casey 72 69, Tano Goya (Arg) 71 70, Bradley Dredge 68 73
142 Mikael Lundberg (Swe) 71 71, Soren Kjeldsen (Den) 70 72, Martin Erlandsson (Swe) 74 68, Metteo Manassero (Ita) 70 72, Todd Hamilton (USA) 68 74, Rafael Echenique (Arg) 67 75, Peter Lawrie 71 71, Peter Hedblom (Swe) 72 70, Pablo Larrazabal (Spa) 73 69, Robert Karlsson (Swe) 72 70, Prayad Marksaeng (Tha) 70 72, Niclas Fasth (Swe) 73 69, Rafael Cabrera Bello (Spa) 74 68, Henrik Stenson (Swe) 70 72, Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind) 73 69, Shiv Kapur (Ind) 68 74, Phillip Price 72 70, Darren Clarke 70 72, Raphael Jacquelin (Fra) 74 68
MISSED THE CUT
143 Graeme McDowell 70 73, Maarten Lafeber (Ned) 72 71, Kenneth Ferrie 73 70, Mark Brown (Nzl) 71 72, Seve Benson 71 72, Oliver Fisher 73 70, Felipe Aguilar (Chi) 72 71, David Drysdale 71 72, Markus Brier (Aut) 73 70, Gregory Bourdy (Fra) 73 70, Sam Little 72 71
144 Christian Nilsson (Swe) 75 69, Oliver Wilson 75 69, Steven Jeppesen (Swe) 74 70, Shiv Shankar Prasad Chowrasia (Ind) 72 72, David Lynn 71 73, Andrew McLardy (Rsa) 69 75, Ricardo Gonzalez (Arg) 73 71, Danny Lee (Nzl) 72 72, Stephen Gallacher 70 74, Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano (Spa) 71 73, Jyoti Randhawa (Ind) 70 74, Michael Hoey 72 72
145 Robert Rock 73 72, Richie Ramsay 75 70, Ignacio Garrido (Spa) 70 75, Graeme Storm 71 74, Barry Lane 70 75
146 Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa) 72 74, John Bickerton 75 71
147 Robert Jan Derksen (Ned) 73 74, Lee Westwood 69 78
148 Christian Cevaer (Fra) 73 75, Ahmed Al Musharrekh (UAE) 77 71, Michael Jonzon (Swe) 72 76, Othman Al Mulla (Ksa) 75 73, Gregory Havret (Fra) 75 73
149 Gary Lockerbie 73 76, Francois Delamontagne (Fra) 75 74, Oskar Henningsson (Swe) 78 71
150 Richard Sheridan 73 77, Gareth Maybin 75 75, Fabrizio Zanotti (Par) 74 76, Alastair Forsyth 75 75, Danny Willett 77 73
151 Marcel Siem (Ger) 75 76
152 Anthony Kang (USA) 76 76, Damien McGrane 79 73, Thomas Levet (Fra) 73 79
153 Jose Manuel Lara (Spa) 78 75
158 Jean-Francois Lucquin (Fra) 73 85
160 Michael Campbell (Nzl) 83 77
the stars at halfway in Abu Dhabi
FROM THE AOL GOLF NEWS SERVICE
Little-known Australian Rick Kulacz blazed 11 birdies in a nine-under-par 63 second round to snatch a one-shot halfway lead at the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship today.
The 24-year-old Perth, Western Australia native secured limited playing rights on the European Tour with a final round 64 at Q-School last year - a round he rates as his best ever, given what was at stake - but was handed a spot in the field this week via a sponsor's invite.
The two-time winner on the Asian Tour took full advantage to charge up the leaderboard to 12-under-par, clear of Sergio Garcia, Shane Lowry and Peter Hanson.
While Kulacz's round, a figure Paul Casey also posted en route to winning last year, is an achievement in itself, it is made all the more remarkable, given the fact he was so unhappy with his pre-tournament practice he needed a phone call to his coach back home on Wednesday to iron out the flaws in his game.
"I was just in the zone. I tried to get it on the green and every putt went in, it was just one of those days where everything went right," said Kulacz, who dropped just one shot in his first round 69.
"That round is definitely top five in my career. I think the one at Q-School was better under the circumstances; to get to Europe was pretty special."
Kulacz shot a final-round 65 to come back from four behind to win New South Wales Open as amateur in 2006, while he achieved a first win as a professional courtesy of a chip in on the first play-off hole at the 2008 Brunei Open.
"I will have to see if I can deal with the pressure, it's a totally different story than Q-School," added Kulacz. "The players are the best in the world excluding the USA and they are way too good to go backwards."
Irish Open champion Lowry carded a bogey-free seven-under-par 65, world number 13 Garcia dropped just one shot in a 67, while Sweden's Hanson went one better with a flawless five-under-par second round over The National Course at Abu Dhabi Golf Club.
Former champion and last year's runner-up Martin Kaymer (67), Chris Wood, who carded a bogey-free 64, and Rhys Davies (68) are just a further shot off the pace with Rory McIlroy and Ian Poulter in a group at nine-under-par.
The "biggest" casualty among the non-qualifiers for the final two rounds was European No 1 Lee Westwood but he quashed suggestions that missing the cut was a reality check following his storming finish last year.
Westwood produced an unstoppable end to 2009 to claim a second Order of Merit title and headed to Abu Dhabi for the start of the Desert Swing as one of the obvious favourites. But after being forced to put a new set of irons in his bag to comply with the new rules regarding grooves following a six-week Christmas break, Westwood carded a six-over-par second round 78 to miss the cut by five shots with six bogeys spread across his card today.
"It's just a bit rust. There were a lot of variables this week. My caddie was pointing out going round, 'What a time to change your clubs when you are playing your best golf'," said Westwood.
"The way I've driven it, I flushed it off the tee, I just need to do some work with my irons. I don't know if they've put the wrong shafts in, they just don't feel right and they don't feel the same.
"They feel like fishing rods. I don't think it's much to do with the grooves, I just haven't had a chance to go out there and do any testing."
Westwood will get a new set of irons flown out while he will also re-shaft his current set ahead of next week's Commercialbank Qatar Masters.
"Thursday's score was just a really good 69. It could have easily been 77 the way I played," he added. "I got away with murder yesterday and today I didn't."
A winner in South Africa before Christmas in his last outing, Aberdeen's Richie Ramsay was one of four Scots who failed to achieve the two-under-par 142 or better total necessary to survive the halfway cut.
Ramsay was always going to struggle to survive after a first-round 75 but he did give it a go with a 70 for 145. Other Scots on the sidelines are David Drysdale (72-143), Stephen Gallacher (74-144) and Alastair Forsyth (75-150).
At the other end of the leaderboard, Paul Lawrie had a 70 for eight-under-par 136 and, in joint 12th position, only four shots off the pace, the Aberdonian has a good platform from which to mount a challenging effort over the final 36 holes.
Marc Warren has had a pair of 69s for 138; Gary Orr a 71 for 140 while Ryder Cup skipper Colin Montgomerie stepped up his standard of performance with a 68 for 141.
SECOND-ROUND TOTALS
Par 144 (2x72)
132 Rick Kulacz (Aus) 69 63
133 Peter Hanson (Swe) 66 67, Shane Lowry 68 65, Sergio Garcia (Spa) 66 67
134 Chris Wood 70 64, Martin Kaymer (Ger) 67 67, Rhys Davies 66 68
135 Rory McIlroy 66 69, Ian Poulter 65 70, Richard Green (Aus) 70 65, Ariel Canete (Arg) 70 65, Edoardo Molinari (Ita) 69 66
136 Daniel Vancsik (Arg) 66 70, Francesco Molinari (Ita) 68 68, Paul Lawrie 66 70, Alvaro Quiros (Spa) 66 70
137 Hennie Otto (Rsa) 70 67, Thomas Aiken (Rsa) 67 70, Steve Webster 68 69, Jeppe Huldahl (Den) 70 67, Richard Finch 69 68, Keith Horne (Rsa) 65 72
138 Marc Warren 69 69, Mikko Ilonen (Fin) 71 67, Paul Waring 68 70, Louis Oosthuizen (Rsa) 67 71, Mark Foster 68 70
139 Richard Bland 65 74, Anders Hansen (Den) 69 70, Soren Hansen (Den) 72 67, David Horsey 73 66, Nick Dougherty 71 68, Simon Dyson 72 67, Thongchai Jaidee (Tha) 69 70, Johan Edfors (Swe) 70 69, Anthony Wall 71 68, Stephen Dodd 66 73, Jamie Donaldson 70 69, Camilo Villegas (Col) 71 68
140 Gary Orr 69 71, Brett Rumford (Aus) 71 69, Anthony Kim (USA) 70 70, Alexander Noren (Swe) 66 74, David Dixon 71 69, James Kamte (Rsa) 72 68, Marcus Fraser (Aus) 71 69, Ross McGowan 69 71
141 Colin Montgomerie 73 68, David Howell 69 72, Geoff Ogilvy (Aus) 72 69, Paul Broadhurst 71 70, Thomas Bjorn (Den) 71 70, Paul Casey 72 69, Tano Goya (Arg) 71 70, Bradley Dredge 68 73
142 Mikael Lundberg (Swe) 71 71, Soren Kjeldsen (Den) 70 72, Martin Erlandsson (Swe) 74 68, Metteo Manassero (Ita) 70 72, Todd Hamilton (USA) 68 74, Rafael Echenique (Arg) 67 75, Peter Lawrie 71 71, Peter Hedblom (Swe) 72 70, Pablo Larrazabal (Spa) 73 69, Robert Karlsson (Swe) 72 70, Prayad Marksaeng (Tha) 70 72, Niclas Fasth (Swe) 73 69, Rafael Cabrera Bello (Spa) 74 68, Henrik Stenson (Swe) 70 72, Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind) 73 69, Shiv Kapur (Ind) 68 74, Phillip Price 72 70, Darren Clarke 70 72, Raphael Jacquelin (Fra) 74 68
MISSED THE CUT
143 Graeme McDowell 70 73, Maarten Lafeber (Ned) 72 71, Kenneth Ferrie 73 70, Mark Brown (Nzl) 71 72, Seve Benson 71 72, Oliver Fisher 73 70, Felipe Aguilar (Chi) 72 71, David Drysdale 71 72, Markus Brier (Aut) 73 70, Gregory Bourdy (Fra) 73 70, Sam Little 72 71
144 Christian Nilsson (Swe) 75 69, Oliver Wilson 75 69, Steven Jeppesen (Swe) 74 70, Shiv Shankar Prasad Chowrasia (Ind) 72 72, David Lynn 71 73, Andrew McLardy (Rsa) 69 75, Ricardo Gonzalez (Arg) 73 71, Danny Lee (Nzl) 72 72, Stephen Gallacher 70 74, Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano (Spa) 71 73, Jyoti Randhawa (Ind) 70 74, Michael Hoey 72 72
145 Robert Rock 73 72, Richie Ramsay 75 70, Ignacio Garrido (Spa) 70 75, Graeme Storm 71 74, Barry Lane 70 75
146 Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa) 72 74, John Bickerton 75 71
147 Robert Jan Derksen (Ned) 73 74, Lee Westwood 69 78
148 Christian Cevaer (Fra) 73 75, Ahmed Al Musharrekh (UAE) 77 71, Michael Jonzon (Swe) 72 76, Othman Al Mulla (Ksa) 75 73, Gregory Havret (Fra) 75 73
149 Gary Lockerbie 73 76, Francois Delamontagne (Fra) 75 74, Oskar Henningsson (Swe) 78 71
150 Richard Sheridan 73 77, Gareth Maybin 75 75, Fabrizio Zanotti (Par) 74 76, Alastair Forsyth 75 75, Danny Willett 77 73
151 Marcel Siem (Ger) 75 76
152 Anthony Kang (USA) 76 76, Damien McGrane 79 73, Thomas Levet (Fra) 73 79
153 Jose Manuel Lara (Spa) 78 75
158 Jean-Francois Lucquin (Fra) 73 85
160 Michael Campbell (Nzl) 83 77
Labels: EUROPEAN TOUR
posted by Colin |
See story on its own page | Friday, January 22, 2010
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home