jun15 earlyroundtwo
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Paul Casey came out of the blocks very fast this morning. After a calamitous 77 in the first round, he had four birdies in his first eight holes, to be at 3-over-par for the tournament and right in the hunt again.
Strange thing is, he did exactly the same thing in the Masters (where he eventually finished tied for 10th). There, he shot a first round 79 and followed it with a 68. If he can just keep in going on his back nine, he could well shoot the lowest round of the week so far.
Starting at the 10th, which has been described as “one of the most difficult holes in the world” he sank his birdie putt, and added further birdies at the 12th, 14th and 17th. He was in a way unlucky not to go even lower. At the long 15th, he hit a terrific 5-iron approach to 10 feet and should have holed the putt, but instead grazed the right lip.
At the short 16th, with the pin on the back level, his ball teetered right on the edge of the slope, before rolling down off the front. So, what had looked like being a very makeable birdie putt turned into an horrendous two-putt. Undeterred however, Casey put his first 3 foot past the hole and putted out for his par.
The 17th is a really tricky, short, driveable par-4, where, if you gamble, a train crash is not very far away. While Casey’s two playing partners, Trevor Immelman and Stewart Cink, both took out their drivers, the Englishman played the percentages and laid up. Both Immelman and Cink came off the rails, finishing the hole with a double-bogey and a bogey respectively. Meanwhile Casey pitched to 10 feet and sank the birdie putt.
Only a handful of players have started the second day and Dougherty won’t begin round two until 6pm (UK time) tonight. Colin Montgomerie tees off later too and will need to play better than he did yesterday. He’s at six over.
Ian Poulter is battling away, but has already dropped two shots after six holes. He is now on four over. The cut is expected to be around the six or seven over mark.
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