Marcus Fraser shot a flawless seven-under 65 to take a two-shot lead in the second round of the Australian PGA Championship yesterday, but it was John Senden who stole the limelight with a hole-in-one in a day’s best 64.
Australian Fraser was on 11-under 133 after two rounds at Coolum’s Hyatt Regency course on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast, north of Brisbane. The US’ Bubba Watson, who was part of the US’ Presidents Cup winning team, was in second after a 68 took him to 135 for the two rounds.
South Korea’s Kim Kyung-tae (67) was a stroke further back in third, while Australian Senden’s eight-under 64, which included an ace at the par-three second, lifted him into a four-way tie for fourth with compatriots Adam Scott (67), Robert Allenby (68) and South Korean Y.E. Yang (68) on 137.
“I felt like I played great over the last couple of days and finally got the putter working the way it should be and it’s nice to see the ball drop, so hopefully that continues over the weekend,” Fraser said.
“Hopefully a few butterflies and nerves creep in, because that is what I’ve always practised to try and win golf tournaments,” he said.
Watson opened his round with an eagle on the par-five first and birdied the fifth and ninth to reach the turn on four under, but had a mixed back nine with three birdies matching a trio of bogeys to finish with a 68.
Senden stormed back into contention following a first round of one-over 73.
“I had played two good shots on the first and nearly made eagle and then knocked it on the second,” Senden said.
“I hit a good shot and when it landed I thought it was a good bounce because it was heading right for the stick and I thought it was close, but I didn’t know if it would go in, but then the cheers came and that was good,” he added.
“That front nine has got some real opportunities and getting off to a good start was important,” added Senden, who was seven-under on the front nine.
“The whole golf course was there for the taking because the winds didn’t really get up at all ... and it made for good scoring out there,” he said.
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