Lee Westwood of England shot a second-round two-under-par 70 under gusty conditions to share the lead with Brett Rumford of Australia at the ISPS HANDA World Super 6 Perth on Friday.
The 44-year-old golfer overcame swirling winds to card an eagle as well as four birdies at Lake Karrinyup Country Club. However, he dropped shots at the first, ninth, 13th and 18th before signing for an eight-under-par 136 total.
Rumford adopted a cautious approach in the second round that resulted in two birdies against two bogeys. He is contented to sign for a 72, which is sufficient to keep him at the top of the leaderboard.
Prom Meesawat of Thailand was on his way to join Westwood and Rumford in tied-first, but he dropped a shot at the 18th after his approach went short and into the bunker. Nevertheless, the Thai had a commendable second round, scoring six birdies on his way to carding a 70.
Sharing third place with Prom is Thorbjorn Olesen of Denmark, Lucas Herbert of Australia and Grant Forrest of Scotland. The trio shot 67, 69 and 68 respectively.
Kiradech Aphibarnrat of Thailand, one of the top contenders going into the ISPS HANDA World Super 6 Perth, was four-under-par after 11 holes, but four consecutive bogeys from holes three to six brought him back to even par. He finished round two in tied-eighth.
Compatriot Pavit Tangkamolprasert scored an ace at the par-three 17th. The 28-year-old teed off using a seven-iron from 204 yards. It was his first hole-in-one in his life.
The cut after two rounds was set at even par, with 80 players progressing to round three.
Did you know:
- Lee Westwood hit eight out of 14 fairways and made 13 out of 18 greens in regulation in round two.
- He won in Australia previously, beating the legendary Greg Norman in a playoff at the 1997 Australian Open.
- His most recent professional victory was at the 2015 CIMB Niaga Indonesian Masters, an event on the Asian Tour.
- Brett Rumford is a two-time winner on the Asian Tour. He won last year’s ISPS HANDA World Super 6 Perth and the 2013 Ballentine’s Championship.
- His highest-ever position on the Official World Golf Ranking was 74th, achieved in October 2013.
- Prom Meesawat’s consistency helped him earned US$134,192 on the Asian Tour in 2017. He finished 30th on the 2017 Asian Tour Order of Merit.
- In an interview with the Asian Tour in 2014, he said that his favourite female golf professional is Paula Creamer.
- Thorbjorn Olesen has won previously at Lake Karrinyup Country Club. He emerged victorious the 2014 Perth International.
- He was part of Team Europe that won the 2014 EurAsia Cup.
- Lucas Herbert qualified for The Open after finishing tied-eighth at the Singapore Open.
- He was one of Australia’s best amateurs before he turned professional in 2015. He was the leading amateur at the 2014 Australian Open and the leading amateur at the 2014 Australian Masters.
- Kiradech Aphibarnrat missed only two fairways in round two.
- In 2013 when he won the Asian Tour Order of Merit, he earned US$1,127,855. The biggest prize cheque that year came from his win in Malaysia.
Players’ Quotes:
Lee Westwood (Eng), Second Round 70 (-2), Total 136 (-8)
It was a good day out on the golf course. It wasn’t easy out there. I know the wind can really pick up in Perth, but you don’t expect it to blow quite as strong as it has blown today.
Rumford and I haven’t given too many shots away. We made a few putts and I chipped in a couple of times. It has been fun. I hope that we get to play together again tomorrow.
I don’t look at it (being in the top eight). I was just trying to shoot as low as possible. I know, if I carry on playing like I’m playing, I’ll be thereabouts on the leaderboard. To be perfectly honest, matchplay is like a lottery sometimes. You’re going to need a lot of luck to win it.
I don’t know what to make of six-hole matchplay. Like I said, I think you’re going to need a lot of luck. I think having a six-hole matchplay is exciting for the fans. I think golf needs something like that, but I don’t know if you’re going to find out who the best player of the week is with that format. If somebody birdies the first four holes, you don’t have any time to fight back. So, it’s a very “do or die” situation over the first couple of holes.
Brett Rumford (Aus), Second Round 72 (even par), Total 136 (-8)
The golf course was as tricky as it can get. It was just rough from word “go”. Every single hole looked different compared to yesterday – the way it played, your landing areas, everything. So, it was a day just purely for concentration and just knocking them down. I’m happy to have signed for 72, I’m happy to be tied for the lead.
Pars are good scores, and parring the first six was what I did. Yeah, it was just a tough day, so I had no real expectations of scores. It was just knuckling down, and do the best you can.
Obviously, Westwood and I want to go through as the leader. You would have to lie to say that you’re not aware of your opponent. But, I’m not playing against him, I’m not changing my game plan or swing thoughts. I’m just playing golf.  Tomorrow will be the same, I am just focusing on my own game and I will try to take it as deep as I can.
Prom Meesawat (Tha), Second Round 70 (-2), Total 137 (-7)
The tournament played a lot different compared to yesterday, when I teed off in the morning. I just try to get myself in a good position and make as many birdies as I can. I made two good birdies on the front nine, which helped me a lot. I also hit a lot of good iron shots. When it’s windy, you can make a lot of mistakes. So, grabbing the opportunities for birdies will help you a lot.
It’s not really mentally taxing for me, despite the conditions. I just try to keep the ball below the tree line. I did very well today and I’m happy to shoot under par under these conditions.
Being in the top eight is going to help. But there’s still a lot of golf to play. There are plenty of good players left as well. I’m just going to stick to my game and try to do my best.
Thorbjorn Olesen (Den), Second Round 67 (-5), Total 137 (-7)
Yeah, the round was difficult. It was quite breezy this morning and the wind picked up in the last hour or so. With that in mind, I’m very happy with my score. I think it’s going to be tough for the guys this afternoon.
The course is firming up a little bit also, so it will be difficult for players to get it close to the pin. But obviously, if you’re playing really, really well, you can shoot a low score.
I really like this golf course. Last year I just had a bad Saturday. I’ll try to do things differently tomorrow. It would be nice to win the stroke play first and then, do well on Sunday. And, I’m going to play a little bit differently if I make it to Sunday, that’s for sure.
Lucas Herbert (Aus), Second Round 69 (-3), Total 137 (-7)
I think the score doesn’t really reflect how hard it was out there. It was so tough with that wind! Actually, I thought that I didn’t play well, so to finish at three-under-par, I’m stoked!
I really like this course. The greens, the layout, the length of holes – everything just set up really well for me, which is why I love coming here every year.
I would love to put myself in that top eight again so that I can just observe the first round of matchplay and give myself a little break in the morning.
Last year, going into the matchplay round, we didn’t prepare to the level it needed to be. But it’s really well-structured now and the team has done a really good job of figuring out what works for me. The preparation problems that happened last year won’t be happening again.
I wasn’t going let that double bogey (at sixth) get to my head. [He birdied the next hole]. I think I got away with it a little because on that seventh tee, we were watching the guys in front of us tee off. So, I had a bit of time to sit there and let that one (the double bogey) go. It shows how far I’ve come mentally.
Kiradech Aphibarnrat (Tha), Second Round 72 (even-par), Total 139 (-5)
I started the round pretty well, as I was four-under-par after 11 holes. Then, after the turn, I had four bogeys in a row, which was quite disappointing. I was striking the ball very well, so to see it bounce into the bunker was just hard to accept. I didn’t putt well too. I missed putts within 10 feet at about six holes.
Well, the wind did pick up, which made it more difficult out there. But overall, I wasn’t playing my best game.
I know that the target on everyone’s mind is to get to the top eight or top 24. But for me, I will always try to perform to the best of my abilities every time I come out to play. I aim to play well in front of the spectators who come out to support me.
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Scores after round 2 of the ISPS HANDA WORLD SUPER 6 PERTH being played at the par 72, 7143 Yards Lake Karrinyup GC course (am – denotes amateur):
136 – Brett Rumford (AUS) 64-72, Lee Westwood (ENG) 66-70.
137 – Thorbjorn Olesen (DEN) 70-67, Lucas Herbert (AUS) 68-69, Prom Meesawat (THA) 67-70, Grant Forrest (SCO) 69-68.
138 – Zander Lombard (RSA) 68-70.
139 – Anthony Quayle (AUS) 71-68, Sean Crocker (USA) 70-69, Adam Blyth (AUS) 73-66, Kiradech Aphibarnrat (THA) 67-72, Andrea Pavan (ITA) 73-66, Min Woo Lee (am, AUS) 69-70.
140 – Wade Ormsby (AUS) 67-73, Yi-keun Chang (KOR) 67-73, Jack Wilson (AUS) 73-67, Sam Horsfield (ENG) 68-72, Yusaku Miyazato (JPN) 70-70, Nick Cullen (AUS) 72-68, Jason Scrivener (AUS) 67-73.
141 – David Bransdon (AUS) 71-70, Satoshi Kodaira (JPN) 70-71, Brad Kennedy (AUS) 69-72, Julien Guerrier (FRA) 74-67, Pavit Tangkamolprasert (THA) 70-71, Daniel Fox (AUS) 69-72, Stephen Leaney (AUS) 69-72, Ben Eccles (AUS) 72-69, Seung-Su Han (USA) 68-73.
142 – Richard Green (AUS) 69-73, Marcus Fraser (AUS) 68-74, Dimitrios Papadatos (AUS) 69-73, Jazz Janewattananond (THA) 68-74, Jake McLeod (AUS) 72-70, James Nitties (AUS) 66-76, Rattanon Wannasrichan (THA) 72-70, Suradit Yongcharoenchai (THA) 71-71, Charlie Ford (ENG) 69-73, Matthew Griffin (AUS) 70-72, Steven Brown (ENG) 72-70, Daisuke Kataoka (JPN) 67-75, Jens Fahrbring (SWE) 68-74.
