Eccles’s work cut out after crash
TORQUAY golf star Ben Eccles knows he will have to go low to make the cut at the Australian Open.
Eccles had a torrid finish at the Australian Golf Club yesterday, going double-bogey, bogey on the final two holes for a three-over 74.
This left him well adrift of leader Cameron Davis (63) and facing an uphill battle to make the weekend.
“I need to shoot a few under just to make the cut,” Eccles said.
“It’s rough to finish like that. I feel I am hitting it well enough to shoot a good number. We will try and shoot the lowest we can.”
The news, however, was better for Curlewis golfer Deyen Lawson who fired an even par 72 in the calm morning conditions.
Thirteenth Beach local Richard Green was solid with a 71.
Teeing off at the 10th yesterday, Eccles moved around the back nine comfortably, turning at one-under. A missed putt on the par-five fifth brought him back to square, before a nightmare finish on eight and nine.
Hitting his drive wide and to the left on eight, Eccles’s ball nestled next to a tree, giving him no chance of a shot. A small sprinkler head was just next to his ball, giving him free relief, but he couldn’t make the most of fortune, put- ting his next shot in the bunker.
And the trouble followed Eccles on nine, too. Putting his drive wide right, Eccles found himself in knee-high shrub for his second shot.
He managed to get the ball out, but it caught the slope on the fairway and trickled into the water.
A nice recovery chip and a tap-in putt saved Eccles from another double bogey.
“I’m hitting it fine. Coming off a good week last week (finishing third in the NSW Open), I was feeling pretty positive,” he said.
“I struggled to read the greens a bit basically all day. I missed a few chances.
“I definitely created a few (birdie opportunities) and just finished poorly.”