|
Rumford, a native of Perth, rolled in eight birdies,
including five straight from the sixth hole, and a lone bogey to
finish his round at a seven-under-par 65. That put him at 13
under for the tournament after his opening-round 66 at the Lake
Karrinyup Country Club.
David Bransdon fired a 64 to come in at 11 under, a stroke ahead
of Steven Jeffress at third.
The overnight joint leader, England's Mark Foster, had a round
of one over on Friday that left him tied for 26th place. World
number 11 Alex Noren, the highest-ranked player in the field,
missed the cut after a two-day score of one under.
British Open winner Louis Oosthuizen stayed in the hunt with a
second-round 68, which left him tied for 10th at seven under.
A total of 67 players, including one amateur, made the regular
cut in the event, tri-sanctioned by the PGA Tour of Australasia,
Asian Tour and European Tour.
After the usual three days of stroke play, the A$1.75 million
($1.35 million) tournament will end on Sunday with 24 players
competing at match play in six-hole playoffs until only one
remains.
The top eight after tomorrow's third round will earn a seeding
into the fourth round and get a bye during the first round of
match play. Rumford is keen to be one of those eight.
"That's one less lottery round you have to deal with, isn't it?"
Rumford said. "That's definitely a huge bonus qualifying inside
that top eight, so it's definitely something I am thinking
about.
"That's why it's going to be so unique and so interesting as
well. There's sort of cuts within cuts this week."
(This story corrects Rumford score on Friday to 65, not 63.)
(Reporting by Sudipto Ganguly; editing by Larry King)
[© 2017 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2017 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
|
