ANZ Championship: Four Australians shared the lead after the second round of the ANZ Championship at New South Wales Golf Club in Sydney yesterday.
Nathan Green, Brendan Jones, Terry Price and Nick O'Hern were on 22 points on a leaderboard packed with 19 players all within four points.
Dubliner Peter Lawrie missed the cut, which fell at 11 points, after failing to add to his opening eight points in yesterday's second round.
With a birdie worth two points and an eagle five in the modified stableford tournament, a score of players are well placed to take advantage today when the wind is expected to be light.
Green ended two years in the wilderness yesterday shooting a 66 on the oceanside par-72 course, while Jones, back in Australia after finishing eighth last year on the Japanese Tour, fired a 67.
Britain's Gary Evans shot a 66 to nestle into the upper reaches of a crowded leaderboard.
Evans was tied for second on 21 points with Craig Parry, Jarrod Moseley and New Zealand's Richard Lee, the only other non-Australian in the top eight.
After 36 holes on the coastal links, the quartet were one point adrift of the four Australians.
Green and Jones set the standard early on and were joined by their compatriots after late surges.
The tournament is one of only two in the world to employ the modified stableford scoring system, used to encourage attacking golf.
"I'm happy with my performance so far," said Evans, who sunk five birdies and an eagle in a round of 66 which, translated into the tournament's format won him 14 points.
"It's a little bit of a surprise because I've had quite a good break over the winter period and didn't expect to play particularly well. But it just goes to show what state of mind does for you."
Evans, who played well to finish tied for fourth at the Heineken Classic last week, birdied his first four holes to race onto 15 points.
Having started on the back nine, he then atoned for his one bogey with an eagle three on the fifth followed by a birdie on the sixth to jump onto 21 points.
"I'm really good in the head at the moment. I just hope my swing holds up," said Evans.
Sweden's Robert Karlsson was alone on 20 points, one ahead of a seven-strong pack that included first-round leader Peter Fowler and another experienced Australian, Peter Senior.
Stuart Appleby struggled on the home stretch, registering three bogeys in four holes before an out-of-bounds drive on the last cost him three points.
Appleby finished with Matthew Ecob and England's Paul Casey on 18 points.
Moseley enjoyed the round of the day, shooting a 64, worth 18 points just 24 hours after a 72 which had spawned as many birdies as bogeys.
He put a lot of stock in making a quick start, and did so with an eagle on the 12th, his third, before reaching the turn in just 31 with three birdies.
He then sunk four more two-pointers on the way in to leave him in a strong position.
ANZ CHAMPIONSHIP
(New South Wales GC, Sydney)
(Par 72, Irish in bold, Brit unless stated)
+22 pts - N Green (Aus) +9 +13, B Jones (Aus) +8 +14, N O'Hern(Aus) +10 +12, T Price (Aus) +10 +12
+21 - J Moseley (Aus) +3 +18, C Parry (Aus) +14 +7, G Evans +7+14, R Lee (Nzl) +7 +14
+20 - R Karlsson (Swe) +11 +9
+19 - P Senior (Aus) +10 +9, P Fowler (Aus) +17 +2, S Hansen(Den) +4 +15, D Carter +10 +9, D Drysdale +10 +9, M Pearce(NZ) +7 +12, P Marantz (Aus) +8 +11
+18 - P Casey +8 +10, S Appleby (Aus) +16 +2, M Ecob (Aus) +5+13
+17 - M Foster +8 +9, M Ilonen (Fin) -2 +19, R Jacquelin (Fra)+9 +8, D Howell +11 +6, A Stolz (Aus) +5 +12, A Atwal (Ind) +3+14, M Clayton (Aus) +9 +8
+16 - C Percy (Aus) +5 +11, Ml Pearson (USA) +10 +6, K Eriksson (Swe) +4 +12, R Russell +6 +10, I Garrido (Spa) +4 +12, B Hughes (Aus) +7 +9
+15 - P Lonard (Aus) +15 0, M Cain (Aus) +10 +5, S Collins (Aus) +12 +3
+14 - P Sjoland (Swe) -1 +15, J Donaldson +4 +10, A Percey(Aus) +4 +10, J Randhawa (Ind) +4 +10, S Leaney (Aus) +11 +3, D Robertson 0 +14, M Blackey +12 +2
+13 - N Dougherty -2 +15, A Mednick (Swe) +4 +9, G Havret (Fra) 0 +13, R Bland +3 +10, W Riley (Aus) +2 +11, G Turner (Nzl) +4 +9, S Conran (Aus) +11 +2, J Remesy (Fra) +10 +3, S Jones (Aus) +8 +5, J Berendt (Arg) +6 +7
+12 - P Sheehan (Aus) +5 +7, S Hend (Aus) +4 +8, D Lynn +6 +6,S Gallacher 0 +12, S Kjeldsen (Den) +5 +7, I Garbutt +2 +10, R Gonzalez (Arg) +6 +6, Leigh Mckechnie (Aus) +1 +11, S Webster +10 +2, A Le vesconte (Aus) +6 +6
+11 - C Rodiles (Spa) +7 +4, D Labelle (USA) -1 +12, M Doyle (Aus) +4 +7, P O'Malley (Aus) +4 +7, B Kennedy (Aus) +10 +1, S Scahill (NZ) +11 0, P Lawrie +4 +7, M Maritz (RSA) +6 +5, H Bjornstad (Nor) +10 +1, D Gleeson (Aus) +3 +8, Tony Carolan (Aus) +7+4
MISSED CUT
+10 - A Tschudin (Aus) +1 +9, Richard Backwell (Aus) +5 +5, B Rumford (Aus) +4 +6, M Olander (Swe) -5 +15, C Schwartzel (Rsa) +3+7, E Stedman (Aus) +3 +7
+9 - M Gronberg (Swe) +3 +6, C Wi (Kor) +1 +8, W Grady (Aus)+6 +3, N Vanhootegem (Bel) +6 +3, Justin Cooper (Aus) +3 +6, S Tinning (Den) 0 +9, L Parsons (Aus) +2 +7, B Lane +8 +1, B Davis +4 +5
+8 - M Lafeber (Ned) +4 +4, A Coltart +7 +1, G Paddison (Nzl) +2 +6, I Poulter +6 +2, S Luna (Spa) -1 +9, R Green(Aus) +4 +4, T Dier (Ger) +12 -4, J King (Aus) +1 +7, Peter Lawrie +8 0
+7 - D Gilford -2 +9, W Bennett +1 +6, C Carmichael (Aus) +1+6, G Dodd (Aus) 0 +7, C Rocca (Ita) 0 +7, M Allen (Aus) +5+2, C Spence (Aus) +5 +2
+6 - A Forsbrand (Swe) -3 +9, M Brown (Nzl) 0 +6, S Gardiner(Aus) +5 +1, R Ball (Aus) -8 +14, R Muntz (Ned) +8 -2, L James +2 +4, J Lomas 0 +6, M Martin (Spa) +6 0
+5 - T Johnstone (Zim) +3 +2, B King (Aus) +2 +3, D Smail (Nzl) +3+2, K Felton (Aus) +4 +1, N Fasth (Swe) +3 +2
+4 - C Miller (Aus) 0 +4, M Norgren (Swe) -5 +9, D McKenzie (Aus) +3 +1, Fk Andersson (Swe) -3 +7
+3 - D Park +2 +1, J Lucquin (Fra) -2 +5, T Bjorn (Den)-4 +7, A Bonhomme (Aus) -1 +4
+2 - M Pilkington -1 +3, D Fichardt (Rsa) -1 +3, G Simpson (Aus)-5 +7, D Diaz (Aus) -2 +4
+1 - J Dawes (Aus) -1 +2, E Walters (Aus) 0 +1, G Owen -4 +5, A Wall -4 +5, C Downes (Aus) -6 +7, S Wakefield -5 +6, A Webster (Aus) -5 +6, M Harwood (Aus) +4 -3, S Struver (Ger) +4 -3
0 - K Ferrie -2 +2.
-1 - A Scott (Aus) +1 -2, C Jones (Aus) 0 -1, B Andrews (Aus) 0 -1
-2 - M Long (Nzl) +4 -6, W Smith (Aus) -3 +1.
-3 - S Dyson -1 -2
-4 - A Buckle (Aus) +4 -8.
-5 - N Gatehouse (Aus) -1 -4, J Riley (Aus) -10 +5, D Bransdon (Aus) -4 -1.
-6 - H Stenson (Swe) -1 -5.
-7 - E Canonica (Ita) -5 -2, G Birch -16 +9.
-8 - A Crawford (Aus) -1 -7.
-10- M Wright (Aus) -7 -3.
-11- R Swift (Aus) -8 -3.
