AusGolf -
Poulter maintains lead into weekend
16 December 2011
Ian Poulter will take a two shot lead into the weekend of the JBWere Masters at Victoria Golf Club.Poulter, who shot a second round of 68, came home with two straight birdies on 17 and 18 to take the lead from Matthew Giles who led for the majority of the day after an impressive morning round.
Off to a slow start, Poulter didn’t card his first birdie until the 9th hole, the World No. 28 later revealing he was starved of energy thanks to a bout of sickness that developed overnight.
“I must have had something bad to eat last night unfortunately. So I felt a bit weak out there today, and it showed. I hit it terrible. I got myself out of position a number of times. But my short game was on and I holed a few nice putts," said Poulter.
Despite the hurdle, Poulter said he was happy to maintain his position on the leaderboard but says he will need to find a different gear if he is to claim the gold jacket come Sunday.
"There are 36 holes to play. This golf course is very challenging and there are a number of tricky tee shots. There are a number of tricky second shots. So you could get caught out at anytime. But obviously two in front is a nice position and we will see what happens over the weekend."
US based Sydneysider Matthew Giles continued his impressive form from the last few weeks also shooting a round of 3-under 68 to sit in outright second position.
The 22 year old who turned professional only last year said he is still learning how to compete against the best in the world after finishing his first season on the Nationwide Tour in 2011.
“There's a lot more to professional golf than obviously just putting the ball in the hole,” he said.
“You have to work out what works for you and how much time to spend at the course and when to get to a tournament and all those kinds of things.”
Having played Victoria Golf Club for the first time this week, Giles said he is happy with his form that led to a T14 at the Australian PGA Championship, but needs to get both parts of his game working concurrently.
“I putted well today. My short game saved me on a few holes. I didn't hit the ball as well today as I did yesterday. But I think out here there's a few holes where obviously if you play them well and you play them the right way, you can really take advantage.”
Local Ashley Hall remains in contention at 6-under par in third position while a further six players lurk a further shot back in equal fourth.
They include the very dangerous Geoff Ogilvy (66,) former Masters champion Peter Lonard (70,) Brendan Jones (68,) Nathan Green (68,) Brent McCullough (66,) and Kieran Pratt (70.)
Ogilvy and McCullough’s rounds of 5-under were the equal best of the day.
The cut was made at 2-over par with 64 players making it to the weekend.
Play will get back underway tomorrow from 7.50am - Poulter and Giles will tee off at 1.20pm.