RAGING POULTS MINGIN’ IN RAIN English pair weather beaten as Pieters steers Belgium joint top
GOLF WORLD CUP DAY TWO
It was really fricking tough out there but we played solid golf THOMAS PIETERS TAMES THE WILD CONDITIONS
ANGRY Ian Poulter reckons wild conditions made the World Cup second round a farce as England slid off the top of the leaderboard.
Poulter and Tyrrell Hatton carded a two-over 74 in howling winds and incessant rain in Melbourne to drop two shots behind co-pacesetters Belgium and South Korea.
The English pair couldn’t get near their opening 62 as they struggled with the elements in the foursomes, carding four bogeys and two birdies.
Both vented their frustrations as Hatton smashed a tee box marker at the 10th with his driver after a wild shot while Poulter blasted the conditions as England tied for third with Italy, Malaysia and India at the halfway stage.
He said: “There’s a phrase I’d use but I probably wouldn’t use it on camera. We all got finished so I guess it was playable.
“We didn’t have any balls blow on the green, which if you look at it was a good thing, otherwise we probably would have stopped.”
On his outburst, Hatton said: “The tee markers are very fragile, that wasn’t a great moment.”
Belgian duo Thomas Pieters and Thomas Detry mastered the miserable conditions to rise to 10 under with a 71.
Pieters said: “It was really fricking tough out there.
“But we played solid. It’s nice to know when I hit it to five feet he’s always going to make it.
“We never say sorry when we hit a bad shot and that helps.”
Detry added: “I didn’t think we would finish today. Waking up this morning and getting here it was just like horizontal rain.
“The wind didn’t drop so it was a tough day all around.”
South Korea’s An Byeong-hun and Kim Si-woo shot 72 to finish level with the Belgians.
An said: “It was chaos. It was a cold day so it was like just trying to hold on.”
Scotland’s Russell Knox and Martin Laird moved up 23 places into joint eighth after a 71.
Aaron Rai set a new course record at the Hong Kong Open, blazing four shots clear with a nine-under 61.
The English ace, 23, cashed in on perfect scoring conditions, sinking six birdies in his first nine holes, including four in a row from the 12th, and adding three more.
Rai broke the course record at Hong Kong Golf Club by two shots as he moved to 14 under.
He said: “We were lucky with the conditions. We didn’t have much wind and it feels like you’re playing a round at home, which is nice.
“But I played well, had a lot of chances and made a lot of putts.”
South Korea’s Hyowon Park posted a bogey-free 62 to lie four shots behind Rai while Matthew Fitzpatrick is third, two strokes further back, after his 62.