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Poisoned Poulter retains lead
Source: Agencies |
December 17, 2011, Saturday
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BRITON Ian Poulter battled a bout of food poisoning amid sweltering afternoon heat but emerged two strokes clear after the second round of the Australian Masters in Melbourne yesterday.
World No. 1 Luke Donald also toiled but is still in striking distance of overnight leader Poulter, who complained of feeling drained and nauseous throughout his patient round of 68.
Poulter birdied his last two holes to finish clear of early clubhouse leader Matthew Giles of Australia with a total of 133.
"I woke up this morning, wasn't good at all. I had something bad to eat last night unfortunately, so I felt a bit weak out there today and it showed, I hit it terribly," Poulter told reporters with a film of sweat on his brow. "Got myself out of position a number of times but my short game was on and I holed a few nice putts. So to look back at the round, I would have taken that score with certainly how I played."
Poulter, who had to force himself to eat to keep his strength up, briefly surrendered the lead to Giles with a bogey on the par-four 11th but wrested it back with birdies at 14 and 17. One last test was to come as the Englishman sprayed his tee-shot on the 18th and found a fairway bunker with his recovery.
An exquisite long-range bunker shot landed five feet from the hole and Poulter calmly rolled it in to keep the momentum heading into the weekend when winds are expected to turn the benign sandbelt course into a serious challenge.
Hot weather
Despite the hot weather, conditions were friendly enough for low scoring, but joint European and US money winner Donald was left to graft and grind through another frustrating day.
Four strokes adrift overnight, the 34-year-old Briton appeared set to make a charge with birdies on the sixth and seventh holes but had the wind taken out of his sails with a horrid bunker episode on the par-four eighth.
Local hope and former US Open champion Geoff Ogilvy clicked into gear with a five-under 66 to lie four behind, while Matteo Manassero shot a 67 to be 10 off the pace.
In Thailand, world No. 3 Lee Westwood continued his sparkling form by shooting an eight-under-par 64 at the Thailand Championship to tie the lowest 36-hole total at an Asian Tour event. The Englishman followed up his career-best 12-under-par 60 on Thursday with eight birdies in a bogey-free round to equal the Asian Tour record set by Thailand's Chapchai Nirat at the 2009 Sail Open in India.
Westwood's 124 total gave him a clubhouse lead of 14 shots before US Masters champion Charl Schwartzel shot a 66 in the afternoon to cut the lead to 11.
Westwood said there would be no change in his approach over the weekend as he tried to close out the win at the US$1-million inaugural tournament and claim a third success in Asia this year after his victories at the Ballantine's Championship in South Korea and the Indonesian Masters.
World No. 1 Luke Donald also toiled but is still in striking distance of overnight leader Poulter, who complained of feeling drained and nauseous throughout his patient round of 68.
Poulter birdied his last two holes to finish clear of early clubhouse leader Matthew Giles of Australia with a total of 133.
"I woke up this morning, wasn't good at all. I had something bad to eat last night unfortunately, so I felt a bit weak out there today and it showed, I hit it terribly," Poulter told reporters with a film of sweat on his brow. "Got myself out of position a number of times but my short game was on and I holed a few nice putts. So to look back at the round, I would have taken that score with certainly how I played."
Poulter, who had to force himself to eat to keep his strength up, briefly surrendered the lead to Giles with a bogey on the par-four 11th but wrested it back with birdies at 14 and 17. One last test was to come as the Englishman sprayed his tee-shot on the 18th and found a fairway bunker with his recovery.
An exquisite long-range bunker shot landed five feet from the hole and Poulter calmly rolled it in to keep the momentum heading into the weekend when winds are expected to turn the benign sandbelt course into a serious challenge.
Hot weather
Despite the hot weather, conditions were friendly enough for low scoring, but joint European and US money winner Donald was left to graft and grind through another frustrating day.
Four strokes adrift overnight, the 34-year-old Briton appeared set to make a charge with birdies on the sixth and seventh holes but had the wind taken out of his sails with a horrid bunker episode on the par-four eighth.
Local hope and former US Open champion Geoff Ogilvy clicked into gear with a five-under 66 to lie four behind, while Matteo Manassero shot a 67 to be 10 off the pace.
In Thailand, world No. 3 Lee Westwood continued his sparkling form by shooting an eight-under-par 64 at the Thailand Championship to tie the lowest 36-hole total at an Asian Tour event. The Englishman followed up his career-best 12-under-par 60 on Thursday with eight birdies in a bogey-free round to equal the Asian Tour record set by Thailand's Chapchai Nirat at the 2009 Sail Open in India.
Westwood's 124 total gave him a clubhouse lead of 14 shots before US Masters champion Charl Schwartzel shot a 66 in the afternoon to cut the lead to 11.
Westwood said there would be no change in his approach over the weekend as he tried to close out the win at the US$1-million inaugural tournament and claim a third success in Asia this year after his victories at the Ballantine's Championship in South Korea and the Indonesian Masters.
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