Fox out as Korean teenager leads
Top New Zealand hope misses the cut, while Joohyung Kim leads by one at midway point
Kiwi favourite Ryan Fox has had a disappointing second round at the New Zealand Open in Queenstown to miss the cut, with Korean Joohyung Kim maintaining his outright lead at the halfway mark.
Fox had a double bogey on his second hole at Millbrook to slip from his overnight score of 2-under to even par and never recovered. And as the blustery wind returned to haunt the afternoon golfers on the back nine, Fox dropped two further shots to card a 4-over 75 and finish 2-over and two shots off the even par cut. Kim, the 17-year-old first-round leader, started the day on 7-under and carded a 4-under 68 at The Hills to hold a one-shot lead on 11-under over Australian Ben Eccles.
“It was great I played really well in tough conditions, which wasn’t easy, but I hope to keep going for the weekend.” Kim said.
“My ball striking for sure has been good. I have kept it in play really well this week. “I’m in the lead halfway through but there are so many big names one or two strokes away, and when it comes to the big intense moments, they always deliver, so I just have to bring my A game and stick to the game plan and play the best I can,” Kim said.
The 25-year-old Eccles earlier made the most of near perfect morning conditions at The Hills, in contrast to the opening day, when the wind gusted and changed direction multiple times.
Eccles carded a 4-under 68 to move to 10-under on the back of a flying start. He eagled the par-five first hole and followed up with birdies on the second and third holes. Eccles got into the field only as an alternate this week and is thrilled with his form. “[On Thursday], I played awesome in the conditions and it came together, and [yesterday] morning, I got off to a fast start and started eagle, birdie, birdie. It’s an amazing feeling and I hope I can keep it going on the weekend.” Eccles said. Eccles did not know until Wednesday morning that he would be playing this week after arriving as an alternate.
“I earned my Asian Tour card last week and thought I would travel anyway. Got the call on Wednesday morning to say I was in, and I think some of the Indian players struggled to get visas, which is how I got my start,” Eccles said.
He’s looking forward to challenging over the weekend.
“The rough is up this year, which is going to make it interesting over the weekend. You’ve really got to take advantage of the par-fives and that’s something I’ve done the last couple of days — a couple of eagles and a couple of birdies.” Eccles said.
Asian Tour player Pavit Tangkamolprasert from Thailand shot the round of the day, an 8-under 64 at The Hills to move to 9-under par and is tied for third with Australian Lucas Herbert, two shots from the lead.
Kieran Muir is the best of the Kiwis in a tie for fifth with Australian Brad Kennedy after carding a 6-under par
65 at Millbrook to move to 8-under and just three shots off the lead.
There’s a healthy Kiwi presence on the leaderboard, with Harry Bateman and 2017 champion Michael Hendry both four shots off the pace on 7-under par.
Hendry scorched The Hills with a
6-under 66 to move into contention for the weekend.
“My ball striking was good, and the bad shots were in good places. Even though I feel like I’m not hitting the ball fantastic, my bad shots are pretty usable and that was the key,” Hendry said.
“I feel like I’ve putted quite poorly. There was a lot of really good opportunities that I missed, so to be perfectly honest, other than the scratchy shots I hit, I probably gave myself a dozen really good looks at birdie.” Hendry said.
“If I can continue to hit the ball the way I am, getting away with the bad shots, not missing a lot of greens and fairways so if I can continue to do that and start seeing the ball roll in, there’s no reason why I can’t be close on Sunday.”
Another young Kiwi who could feature over the weekend is Denzel Ieremia. He finished strongly at Millbrook, including making eagle on the par-five 17th to be handily placed at 4-under.