|
 Scott, who revealed before the start of play that his wife is
pregnant with their first child, followed up his opening-round 68 to
head into the weekend at seven-under-par.
That left the world number three alone in third place, just two
strokes behind his fellow Australians Wade Ormsby and Scott Strange,
who finished at nine-under.
American Boo Weekley, who led overnight after the first round was
suspended because of thunderstorms, fired an even-par 72 to remain
at six-under but dropped back to fourth place on a heavily congested
leaderboard.
Six players, including Nick Cullen, who beat Scott by a shot to win
last month's Australian Masters, ended the day at five-under while a
total of 44 players were under par.
Conditions on day two were perfect at the Royal Pines Resort
Queensland, near where Scott was raised, and the defending champion
made four birdies but gave back a shot with a bogey at the par-four
13th hole.
"I really want to finish this off with a win and hang on to trophy
this year and go into next year feeling a little bit chuffed with
myself," Scott told reporters.
"It was really solid golf from tee to green today, just a bit
frustrated not to take advantage of a few more of the holes."
Ormsby and Strange had contrasting rounds. After making a bogey on
his opening hole, Ormsby made an eagle at his third, the par-five
12th, then reeled off four birdies in a row from the 14th.
[to top of second column] |
He made another birdie on the third hole, his 12th, then made a late
bogey for a round of 67.
Strange produced the round of the day, a flawless six-under-par 66.
He made a solid start, with two birdies on his front nine, before
picking up four more on the run home, including one on his last hole
to join Ormsby in the lead.
"I think we got the right side of the draw with the storms and that
rolling in yesterday and this morning with the rain," said Strange.
"So I took advantage of it and played nice today."
(Writing by Julian Linden in Singapore; editing by Sudipto Ganguly)
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