Sat, Nov 28, 2009 page20

• Irish stumble, but recover to retain three-stroke lead

  • REUTERS
  • • 
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  Ireland’s Rory McIlroy and Graeme McDowell stumbled on the back nine, but recovered to retain a three-stroke lead after the second-round foursomes at the World Cup of Golf yesterday.

  The Ulstermen, who shot a 58 in the first-round fourballs, finished with two birdies in their last three holes to keep defending champions Sweden at bay with a four-under 68 for an 18-under total.

  “Still leading, which is great. We started out the day with a three-shot lead and we still have a three-shot lead,” the 20-year-old McIlroy told reporters.

  

  Taiwan’s Lu Wei-chih watches as teammate Lin Wen-tang checks the wind on the seventh fairway during the second round of the World Cup of Golf in Dongguan, China, yesterday.

  PHOTO: REUTERS

  Henrik Stenson and Robert Karlsson, looking to make Sweden the first country to win back-to-back titles since the US in 2000, carded seven birdies in the only blemish-free round of the day for a 65 and second place.

  Italian brothers Edoardo and Francesco Molinari were a shot further back on 14-under after a disappointing finish to a fine round left them with a 66. Japan were fourth on 11-under after a 71, with Wales (68) and Venezuela (67) sharing fifth on 10-under.

  Taiwan’s duo of Lin Wen-tang and Lu Wei-chih shot a disappointing 74 to sit in 25th place on three-under 141.

  Although the fireworks of Ireland’s brilliant first round were always unlikely to be repeated in the more difficult alternate ball format, they looked comfortable enough early on.

  Having picked up a single birdie through six holes, McDowell’s approach shot left McIlroy to sink a two-foot putt for an eagle three at the seventh.

  After picking up another shot at the ninth, they dropped their first shot of the tournament when they were forced to take a drop after McIlroy’s drive found the woods — a red hazard — at the 11th.

  They were back out to 18-under with another birdie two holes later, but at the 15th, which McIlroy eagled on Thursday, McDowell landed his ball in the water and three putts resulted in a double-bogey.

  McDowell, however, made immediate amends by draining back-to-back birdie putts at the 16th and 17th, the latter from more than 20 feet, and a par to close allowed them to keep their three-shot cushion going into today’s round.

  ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY STAFF WRITER

  ■CASIO OPEN

  AFP, KOCHI, JAPAN

  Defending champion Komei Oda shot a sizzling seven-under 65 to share the lead with fellow Japanese Shigeki Maruyama after the second round of the Casio Open in Kochi, Japan, yesterday.

  The 31-year-old Oda sank eight birdies against one bogey for a two-round total of 12-under 132 to move up from Thursday’s fourth-place tie.

  Maruyama hit a bogey-free seven birdies on the Kochi Kuroshio Country Club course.

  Maruyama said: “No bogey. I feel good. I had two crises on the front nine, but those were not serious. My shots were stable and I didn’t have a difficult ball.”
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