Adam Scott hopes class and expertise will prevail after snatching a share of the Australian Open midway lead with a spectacular end to his course-record-equalling second spherical.
Delighting the large gallery, Scott drained a long-range putt from off the inexperienced for eagle on the ultimate gap to ice a flawless seven-under-par 63 at Victoria Golf Membership on Friday.
The previous world No.1 vaulted to eight beneath for the championship to be co-leader with Victorian David Micheluzzi.
A Melbourne sandbelt specialist and second on the Australasian Tour Order of Benefit after profitable final month’s WA PGA, Micheluzzi can be no weekend pushover after backing up his Thursday 63 with a second-round one-under 71 at co-hosting Kingston Heath.
However making up six photographs on the world No.556 was an excellent bounce-back for Scott after his self-confessed “disgusting” first-round 70 at Kingston Heath featured 4 bogeys and a double.
“It was an excellent day – quite a lot of stable stuff and I simply labored my manner across the course,” Scott stated.
“There’s quite a lot of hassle out right here and I used to be conscious of it each gap however I managed to remain out of it many of the day, whereas yesterday I used to be in it many of the day.
“So I turned issues round and am in a great place going into the weekend.”
The 2009 Australian Open champion certainly seems to be a scorching favorite to lastly etch his identify on the Stonehaven Cup for a second time.
He’s the top-ranked participant within the discipline and much and away essentially the most achieved identify on the leaderboard.
Scott and Micheluzzi take pleasure in a three-shot buffer from their closest pursuers.
Unheralded compatriot Haydn Barron and New Zealander Josh Geary share third at 5 beneath with little-known American Gunner Wiebe.
Scott’s US PGA Tour peer Cameron Percy, Belgian Velten Meyer, Frenchman Pierre Pineau and Denmark’s Nicolai Hojgaard are all 4 again, with the Open to conclude at Victoria GC over the closing two rounds.
However having been right here earlier than and never fairly completed the job and claimed an elusive second nationwide championship, Scott is not counting his chickens simply but.
“Hopefully I can sort of hold working on this path tomorrow,” he stated.
“If I can play properly tomorrow and anybody else can include me, and it is only some guys in it, that’d be an awesome place for Sunday.
“Then possibly I’ve some benefit from expertise.”
Solely the highest 30 gamers and ties will survive a second lower after Saturday’s third spherical launched to accommodate the ladies’s occasion being staged concurrently for the primary time in Open historical past.
Cameron Smith can be amongst these attempting to make up floor after miraculously avoiding the midway chop.
The world No.3 solely learnt six hours after posting a second successive one-over-par spherical that he’d made the lower on the quantity after a stack of Friday afternoon starters shot themselves out of the match.
However whereas Smith’s season continues, his LIV Golf teammate Marc Leishman can put his golf equipment away for the 12 months.
Leishman missed the lower by a shot following a second-round 73 at Kingston Heath.
