Leader Matt Jones complained yesterday of stinging eyes and trouble breathing as smoke from raging bushfires descended on the Australian Open golf competition for a second day running.
Jones birdied the final hole for a one-stroke lead over England’s Paul Casey as the players struggled through another day of smoke haze.
World No. 14 Casey, the field’s highest-ranked player, led for much of the day after a sparkling six-under-par 65.
Photo: AP
However, Jones, who won the tournament in 2015, dropped a tricky putt on the last hole to be 10-under-par for the tournament after his first-round 67.
Amateur Yu Chun-an of Taiwan, whose seven birdies on Thursday earned him a first-round 65, had two birdies in round two, putting him in a three-way tie for ninth place with one-under-par 70.
Taiwan’s CT Pan missed the cut after a second-round 69 left him at one-over-par.
A wind change helped lift some of the toxic smoke from bushfires blazing across New South Wales in the morning before beginning to return as the day wore on.
“As you can tell by the voice the smoke has got to me a little bit,” Jones said. “It’s not the easiest to breathe, our eyes have definitely been stinging quite a bit. But any time you get to lead is fantastic. It would have been better to be more than one in front, but I’ll take one.”
HONG KONG OPEN
The Hong Kong Open has been rescheduled for January after its postponement over pro-democracy protests, organisers said yesterday — although it will not be sanctioned by the European Tour.
The US$1 million event is now to be held from Jan. 9 to 12, and is to be sanctioned by the Asian Tour, but not the European Tour, which has the South African Open in the same week.
Additional reporting by staff writer
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