Overnight leader Josh Geary had barely teed off in his second round at the Fiji International at Natadola Bay yesterday when it all started to go terribly wrong.
The Tauranga golfer started with a par on the 10th before a double bogey on the 11th and successive bogeys on 12, 13 and 14 saw him slip to five over after five holes played. He rallied with a birdie on the 17th before slipping to six over with two more bogeys and then disaster struck on the par four eighth, with Geary having a quadruple bogey eight.
But his 12-over total means he is still in contention to make a run at the title if he can shoot a good score today.
Fellow Tauranga-based pros Mark Brown, Kieran Muir and Hayden Beard had conflicting fortunes. Brown is handily placed, seven shots off the lead on nine over and, after growing up in Wellington, he does not mind the wind blowing. Muir struggled through his round 10 over par but then birdied the 17th to finish exactly on the weekend cut line of 14 over. Fledgling tour pro Hayden Beard, from Mount Maunganui, would have learned plenty from his two rounds despite missing the cut.
The best of the Kiwis is Ryan Fox, who showed plenty of composure to turn around a run of four bogeys in his opening five holes, to fire three birdies to finish with a one over 73. His two round total of 149 has him handily placed in third equal, just three shots behind leader Matt Kuchar.
"I actually played really well after being four over after five," Fox said.
"I didn't really feel I had done a lot wrong but just hung in there. I had a little bit of luck. I chipped in for par on 18 and holed one from off the green on two for par, which kept everything going when it could have gone backwards. I certainly haven't played my way out of the tournament, which you could so very, very easily do out here.
"I was lucky to play with Matt Kuchar the last couple of days and he has played some great golf. I imagine if the conditions get better he is going to be a tough one to catch."
US PGA star and world No16 Kuchar showed his class with six birdies, easily the most carded by any player, balanced against six bogeys.
With the wind still howling around the Natadola Bay links, low scoring was at a premium, with just three rounds in red figures. Conditions are forecast to ease for the weekend.
-Peter White travelled to Fiji thanks to Fiji Airways and PGA Australia.