As the eyes of the golfing world turn to Western Australia this weekend for the intriguing new final-day format at the ISPS HANDA World Super 6 Perth, Brett Rumford made sure the home town fans had plenty to cheer about as the local favourite moved into the outright lead on day two.
The five-time European Tour winner was composure personified as he bettered his opening round 66 with a seven under second round 65 to take a two-stroke advantage into the weekend on 13 under, although the innovative format change means his lead does not carry the same weight as it would do in a regular strokeplay event.
Perth native Rumford merely leads the chase for the 24 qualification spots which earn a path to the six-hole match-play finale on Sunday, with an added bonus for the top eight in the way of a bye to the second round of the knock-out stages.
With his compatriots David Bransdon and Steven Jeffress occupying second and third place respectively, attention will no doubt focus further down the leaderboard on day three as the race for those 24 qualification spots and the eight seeded spots intensifies.
South African Louis Oosthuizen and Thorbjørn Olesen of Denmark are among the players vying for a top eight position, as they both share tenth place with five others, while two-time European Tour winner Wu Ashun of China and another home town favourite, US Amateur Champion Curtis Luck, are among those outside the top 24 and hoping to push on to avoid the second cut of the week.
Player Quotes:
Brett Rumford
“I’m pretty tired after that today. It was harder than I actually anticipated. The weather forecast was supposed to be only about 31 today, but felt like about 40. It was really just keeping up the fluids and keeping up the energy levels.
“That’s mainly all I was really focusing on today, and the score sort of just unfolded as it did. Had a good round I guess from, what was that, 6 through to 10, and then got a little bit unfortunate on 11 which sort stopped that round, but sort of all the work was done.
“Then just played some solid golf coming in, made some good up and downs with a couple tricky ‑‑ the wind was just starting to swirl on that back nine making things a bit tricky, so a couple numbers that were a little bit out, but apart from that it was a really good day.
“They’re all great players here this week and match play of six holes, it’s a bit of a lottery. So obviously just getting your foot in the door and qualifying is the number one key, that’s it. So no matter where you finish, you’ve just got to be here for Sunday.”
David Bransdon
“It’s nice for the putter to work early. Worked early last week on the first round, but it was nice to get it going early and then make a few more around the turn, and then she got a bit cold toward the end, but that’s okay.
“From everything I read, you need to be in that top eight after three rounds, so I’m in a good position with that. The top 24 obviously, that’s the goal because if you’re not in the top 24 you don’t get to be part of the fun on Sunday.”
Louis Oosthuizen
“Match play is a completely different ball game and I’m looking forward to it. If I have a good day tomorrow I can be in the top eight, but if not then it’s just one more round that I need to focus on. But I’m looking forward to playing a bit of match play.
“It was no real big fireworks today but you’re just trying to plod along and get in the top eight for Sunday. I feel like I’m hitting it good enough, I just need to make a few more putts. I’ve been off the pace on the greens, but I’ll try and sort that out on the putting green.”
Thorbjørn Olesen
“It was tricky today. I hit a few bad shots and I had some great up and downs, which kept me going. I had two great shots on seven and holed a great putt also, but the key was a few good up and downs, definitely.
“Because I’ve seen most of this golf course over the last three years it gives me a lot of confidence and I know I can hit a few shots from the trees. So even though I hit some bad drives, I still managed to get around.
“I’m in a great position. Obviously you need a good score tomorrow hopefully so I can be in a good position for the match play.”
Round two scores:
131 B Rumford (Aus) 66 65,
133 D Bransdon (Aus) 69 64,
134 S Jeffress (Aus) 68 66,
135 J Veerman (USA) 67 68, L Herbert (Aus) 67 68,
136 D Fox (Aus) 67 69, M Millar (Aus) 71 65, A Blyth (Aus) 67 69, S Heisele (Ger) 67 69,
137 R Fox (Nzl) 69 68, L Oosthuizen (RSA) 69 68, T Olesen (Den) 70 67, J Younger (Aus) 68 69, C O’Toole (USA) 67 70, D Stewart (Sco) 72 65, R Evans (Eng) 69 68,
138 R Allenby (Aus) 69 69, A Connelly (Can) 69 69, M Long (Nzl) 69 69, N Cullen (Aus) 69 69, J Singh (Ind) 70 68, H Tanihara (Jpn) 67 71, J Scrivener (Aus) 67 71, J Smith (Eng) 68 70, T Detry (Bel) 71 67,
139 J Higginbottom (Aus) 69 70, S Chawrasia (Ind) 71 68, C Kumar (Ind) 70 69, M Foster (Eng) 66 73, W Ashun (Chn) 72 67, T Macdonald (Aus) 68 71, P Tangkamolprasert (Tha) 68 71,
140 P Angles (Esp) 68 72, P Meesawat (Tha) 70 70, R McEvoy (Eng) 71 69, J Heath (Eng) 69 71, N Srithong (Tha) 69 71, B Eccles (Aus) 71 69, P Khongwatmai (Tha) 68 72, A Bland (Aus) 71 69,
141 S Soderberg (Swe) 69 72, C Wood (Aus) 70 71, R McCarthy (Aus) 71 70, M Korhonen (Fin) 68 73, J McLeod (Aus) 69 72, J Wilson (Aus) 69 72, S Khan (Eng) 73 68, J Zunic (Aus) 73 68, W Ormsby (Aus) 70 71, G Bhullar (Ind) 72 69, C Ford (Eng) 73 68, C Luck (am) (Aus) 72 69,
142 S Brazel (Aus) 71 71, M Nixon (Eng) 72 70, B Campbell (Nzl) 69 73, M Griffin (Aus) 73 69, G Bourdy (Fra) 71 71, A Wilkin (Aus) 69 73, T Hart (Aus) 70 72, P Uihlein (USA) 71 71, D Papadatos (Aus) 68 74, R Green (Aus) 72 70, B Coletta (Aus) 73 69, M Hendry (Nzl) 71 71, M Brown (Nzl) 73 69, T Chuayprakong (Tha) 68 74, P Pittayarat (Tha) 72 70,
CUT
143 M Sim (Aus) 72 71, S Kapur (Ind) 70 73, A Noren (Swe) 74 69, T Pilkadaris (Aus) 74 69, S Leaney (Aus) 71 72, J Geary (Nzl) 69 74, B Watt (Aus) 70 73, M Fraser (Aus) 75 68, A Rai (Eng) 72 71, J Parry (Eng) 71 72, J Nitties (Aus) 70 73, L Jensen (Den) 72 71, D Lawson (Aus) 71 72, B Kennedy (Aus) 74 69, R Dinwiddie (Eng) 67 76, S Vincent (Zim) 73 70, J Randhawa (Ind) 71 72, T Lewis (Eng) 71 72, M Kawamura (Jpn) 69 74, A Price (Aus) 71 72,
144 J Felton (Aus) 74 70, T Sinnott (Aus) 76 68, S Dartnall (Aus) 67 77, A Evans (Aus) 72 72, D Perrier (Fra) 72 72, N Holman (Aus) 71 73, A Chesters (Eng) 69 75, C S (Ind) 71 73, P Widegren (Swe) 73 71, D Klein (Ger) 73 71, O Wilson (Eng) 75 69, C Pigem (Esp) 68 76, L Weber (Fra) 72 72, R Haller (Aus) 70 74,
145 A Martin (Aus) 75 70, J Cabban (Aus) 71 74, E Molinari (Ita) 71 74, L Wenchong (Chn) 76 69, R Johnson (Swe) 71 74, A Saddier (Fra) 75 70, P Maddy (Eng) 73 72, M McCardle (Aus) 73 72, J Rutherford (Eng) 76 69, M Wright (Aus) 76 69, N Basic (Aus) 73 72, M Ford (Eng) 71 74, M Jager (Aus) 71 74,
146 J Allan (Eng) 74 72, J Stalter (Fra) 74 72, A Houston (Aus) 74 72, R Echenique (Arg) 74 72, Z Lombard (RSA) 75 71, J Norris (Aus) 74 72, N Kimsey (Eng) 74 72,
147 B Virto (Esp) 73 74, M Giles (Aus) 77 70, R Bourke (Aus) 74 73, D Jordan (Aus) 75 72, N Johansson (Swe) 77 70, S Rahman (Ban) 75 72, B Shilton (Nzl) 78 69, S Manley (Wal) 76 71, C Shih-Chang (Tpe) 73 74, P Swangarunporn (Tha) 70 77, N Fung (Mas) 72 75, C Parry (Aus) 74 73,
148 N Green (Aus) 75 73, D Popovic (Aus) 77 71, A Hall (Aus) 77 71, S Henry (Sco) 78 70, J Guerrier (Fra) 72 76, J Edfors (Swe) 72 76, G Porteous (Eng) 70 78, B Moules (Aus) 77 71,
149 S Webster (Eng) 76 73, L Wei-Chih (Tpe) 72 77, B Rankin (Aus) 73 76, H Chien-Yao (Tpe) 73 76, B Evans (Eng) 72 77, A Dodt (Aus) 74 75,
150 J Fahrbring (Swe) 76 74,
151 A Townsend (Aus) 77 74, D Chia (Mas) 77 74,
152 S Chien (USA) 74 78,
154 M Jonzon (Swe) 78 76,
155 D Horsey (Eng) 76 79,
156 R Gangjee (Ind) 75 81,
157 P O’Malley (Aus) 77 80,
** D Boonma (Tha) 79 WD,
