World No. 1 Jordan Spieth moved into contention heading into the weekend at the Australian Open, as hometown hopeful Matt Jones kept up his impressive form to top the leaderboard after day two in Sydney.
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Although conditions were markedly calmer than on Thursday, when temperatures soared and gusts of wind swirled across the fairways at the Australian Golf Club, good scores were still at a premium.
Another at the 14th sent him to four-under but a poor chip and a short putt at the next saw him drop his first shot of the day, a swipe of the hand in the direction of the offending ball making clear his frustration.
Clarke, who brought the gleaming Ryder Cup trophy to Australia for a first ever visit Down Under, bounced back from a first round 75 to grab five birdies in a four under par 67. “I didn’t really think I hit a bad shot”, Ogilvy said.
“I hit two fairways on the back nine, so when you’re playing out of rough or bunkers, it’s hard to control”, he said.
Matthew Jones leads the Australian Open by three strokes after the second round on Friday.
Arizona-based Jones, 35, joined the Australian Club as a 15-year old and named Greg Norman and Tiger Woods as his inspiration for pursuing the title.
“To have something this windy, it’s been a while”, Spieth said. “I hit a pretty good drive on the first hole… made a nice putt (for birdie), but other than that it was relatively boring golf”.
Nicolas Colsaerts had the best round of the early groups, shooting 66.
A “flat” and exhausted Adam Scott shot a 2-over 73 at the Australian Open on Friday, a round likely to allow him to scrape into the weekend but do little to end his 2015 victory drought.
Defending champion Spieth told the tournament website: “I feel like I’ve still got the best golf yet, to be played”.
“I just misjudged the pace of the greens for most of the day”, Scott said.
The wind left him and playing partners Geoff Ogilvy and Lee Westwood with tough choices on club selection.
Unheralded US PGA Tour player Matt Jones is the player to catch entering the third round of the Australian Open in Sydney.
Australia’s Adam Scott gamely fought back from double bogeys at his seventh and ninth holes, managing to complete his inward nine in three-under to join Spieth sharing 19th place at level-par.
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“I mean, of course I’ve thought about [winning] it but it would be fantastic”.
