A wet and wild Cup
It’s Joost the worst of days possible
SMASHED tee markers and unplayable bunkers turned World Cup Friday in to a fight for survival as Australia’s dayone grip on the trophy slipped.
On Thursday, Ian Poulter said the only way to prepare for alternate shot play was to get ready for a quick round. The Englishman could not have been more wrong as wicked weather sent Australia tumbling from top spot.
Despite the two-ball format at Metropolitan in Melbourne, rounds for the 28 groups stretched close to five hours, thanks to lost balls and waterfilled sand traps.
After a blistering opening round 62, Aussies Marc Leishman and Cameron Smith have some catching up to do.
Frustration reached boiling point when Smith sent his drive on the ninth so far right the third fairway loomed as the only way out and he slammed his club in the ground. The Aussies made par there, but slipped to as many as seven off the lead after an ugly opening nine, before rallying late in a second-up 76.
The home team is four shots behind joint leaders Belgium and Korea, who both defied the wind and rain to remain in double figures at 10under, with just three rounds under par for the day
“It was pretty brutal,” Leishman said. “I don’t play when it’s like this. If I look out the window and it’s like this, I’m settling in on the couch.” DUTCHMAN Joost Luiten has won six times on the European Tour and been ranked as high as 28 in the world.
But Luiten, 32, and his partner Daan Huizing shot 82 at Metropolitan yesterday as the worst nightmares of the second day were realised.
It just didn’t stop raining, and the wind was relentless. Gusts hit 50km/h, even grounding the ducks.
They had somewhere to swim, though, with puddles of water on the sides of the 11th fairway. Just near the dam, which got a fill-up. The bunkers, too, which don’t need or want lots of water.
The players could have been at the British Open. Beanies were plentiful; everyone was wearing rain gear and gloves for hands.
The Venezuelans battled, as expected. January is the coldest month in Caracas, the capital, averaging 22C.
It hovered around 12C all day at Metropolitan. Jhonattan Vegas and Joseph Naffah began with a triple-bogey. They finished with 82.
It was 31C in Bangkok, and conditions at Metro did not suit team Thailand (78).
“The weather is terrible. This is coldest I ever playing golf in,” world No.36 Kiradech Aphibarnrat said.