Mark Brown has bounced back from a quiet opening day at the Carrus Open to shoot a magical round of 11-under par, 59 to rocket into the lead on the Jennian Homes Charles Tour.
The three-time defending champion, who has established ownership of this event, holds a two-shot lead over the in-form James Anstiss who is aiming to capture his maiden professional win and with that, the season long points race for the Jennian Homes Trophy.
But the man of the moment, Brown is believed to be only the second player in professional golf to not only shoot 59 once, but twice alongside the world-famous Jim Furyk.
After opening his account with a round of even-par, he is now on track to claim his fourth title in-a-row and fifth title in six years here at the Tauranga Golf Club as he handed in one of the more memorable cards seen on the Jennian Homes Charles Tour, which also equals the course record.
"It feels amazing, this place is pretty special to me so its special to do it in front of all the members and supporters here," said Brown.
"I thought about it [shooting 59] when there was about five holes to go and was thinking about going even lower than 59 at one stage, but I didnt play two or three holes well towards the end.
After 16 superb holes of golf, the highlight of his round and maybe even his career came on the par three ninth where he holed a flop shot from a hugely difficult spot.
"It was a terrible tee shot, I tried to hit a little six-iron in there and it was a really poor shot under that pressure, then got to the chip and it wasnt the easiest shot either. I said to Mikayla [caddie and wife] that it was either going to be a four or a two and just opened the face and let go."
"It was probably one of the best shots Ive hit in my career."
Brown shot the same score four years ago, to join Richard Lee who has also recorded the magical number here back in 2010.
With Anstiss in second place, this also creates an exciting finish to the season long race for the Jennian Homes Trophy as the current favourite, Dan Pearce sits in seventh place at seven-under.
If the rookie-professional was to win the major prize this week, Pearce is still able to win the $5,000 in prize money, but only by finishing in second place, third place or a two-way tie for third.
There is also plenty of talent ready to try catch the local favourite the large group of Daniel Hillier (68), Kerry Mountcastle (67), Dongwoo Kang (64), and Lachie McDonald (65) who all sit three shots back at eight-under par.
FULL LEADERBOARD
Brittney Dryland continued to impress at the Carrus Open today with a steady round of one-under par to now lead the final event of the Jennian Homes Charles Tour summer by three shots.
After a low scoring day one, the wind kept the womens field in check today and Dryland played a mature brand of golf to suit it.
"It was a little tougher today, but I was happy with how I played after and happy to back up yesterdays good start," said Dryland.
Her consistency has been rewarded this year after being selected for the 2018 Queen Sirikit Cup team as she continues to enjoy a good 2017/18 season.
The Auckland and New Zealand representative also finished in style with a birdie on the 18th hole to take some nice momentum entering the final weekend of the summer.
"Its always nice to finish with birdie and hopefully I can just keep going this weekend."
The chasing pack is led by her Auckland team member, Caryn Khoo who completed her second round in one-over par to be four-under for the tournament.
A further one-shot back is Miree Jung and together with Khoo will need to make a move on moving day to apply pressure.
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Round three will tee off from 9:00am to give the laid-back locals from the Bay of Plenty, plenty of time come watch the top 60 plus ties this weekend and if today was anything to go by, its going to be an exciting weekend of golf.
- This story has been automatically published using a media release from Golf NZ
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