An ace trumps Aussie
BYEONG Hun An stole Max McCardle’s thunder with a spectacular late ace as the Australian Open roared to life during a dramatic second round at The Lakes yesterday.
Little-known McCardle, a former apprentice mechanic now toiling away in China, confessed to a fluky chip-in birdie at the last that vaulted the 33-year-old journeyman into a share of the halfway lead with An.
Ordinarily, the world No.1062 would have hogged the headlines with his underdog rise to the top of the leaderboard at eight-under par following his sizzling 66 yesterday.
But the South Australian had to share the limelight with An after the South Korean sensationally reclaimed the lead he held on Thursday night with a hole-in-one on the 197- metre par-3 15th.
“Hit it good, nice fading back to the hole and went in. This is my third one but first with a prize,” An said after earning himself a $17,000 Swiss watch.
“It was a soft seven iron. I didn’t even know the distance. My caddie just said to hit seven iron and take five (metres) off.”
An had watched on as American big gun Matt Kuchar and Australian amateur David Micheluzzi entered the clubhouse at seven-under par after blitzing the morning wave.
Kuchar, the world No.29, lived up to his billing as the highest-ranked player in the field with a five-under 67 and was joined atop the leaderboard shortly after by Micheluzzi (69) and last week’s NSW Open winner Jake McLeod (67).
Kuchar’s countryman and fellow tournament contender Keegan Bradley returned a 66 to sit a shot back at six-under, sharing fifth with six other challengers — Jordan Zunic (65), Cameron Percy (69), Marcus Fraser (69), Matt Jager (70), Mexican Abraham Ancer (69) and Japanese amateur Keita Nakajima (68).
Micheluzzi, who is bidding to become the first amateur to win the Stonehaven Cup since Aaron Baddeley in 1999, jumped out of the gates yesterday with three birdies and an eagle in his first six holes.
Although the 22-year-old suffered three consecutive bogeys around the turn, he responded with a birdie at the third (his 12th).
All up, 15 players are within three strokes of the lead, ensuring a grandstand weekend finish.