McIlroy and Ishikawa six behind Wright
Rory McIlroy hasn't got much to do in Korea in the evenings so he's been spending time on Twitter.
@Rorsmcilroy: Decent day at the office today Shot 68 in the top 10. playing with ryo ishikawa at 10.20 in the morning. Should be good fun
On Saturday he'll get to play with someone around is own age - Ryo Ishikawa - in the third round of the Kolon-Hana Bank Korea Open. McIlroy and Ishikawa are six off the lead after carding rounds of 68 and 69 respectively.
Journeyman professional Michael Wright upstaged the galaxy of young stars playing in the Kolon-Hana Bank Korea Open today after taking the halfway lead at Woo Jeung Hills Golf club, just outside Seoul.
The 35 year old Australian fired a five-under-par 66 for a two stroke lead over Koreans Kim Dae-hyun and Choi Joon-woo. Kim, joint round leader with Wright, shot a 68 while Choi carded 66.
Wright leads the second event of the year on the new OneAsia Tour with a total of nine-under-par 133.
New Zealand’s Danny Lee is level par for the tournament along with defending champion Bae Sang-moon from Korea after they both scored their second successive 71s.
Said Wright: ‘I was in one of the first groups out today and got into a nice comfortable groove. I kept my head down and did not think about the fact I was moving up the leader board. I guess it will be a different tomorrow in the last group out with all the crowds.”
Wright raced into the lead with birdies on one, three, six, eight and 11. He dropped his only shot of the day on 16th before making a birdie on the par five 18th.
The Australian has been playing some of the best of his 10 year professional career this season having recorded two impressive PGA of Australia victories. He won the Morobe Open and the Papua New Guinea Open and was an incredible combined 31 under for the two events.
An exciting weekend of golf is expected especially with 20-year-old McIlrory and Ishikawa, aged 17, having made their move and will be paired together tomorrow.
McIlroy, winner of this year’s Dubai Desert Classic, birdied 17 and 18 to put himself in contention.
“I felt much better today and was able to play some really good golf at times. I am in the prefect position and really looking forward to the next two rounds,” said McIlroy, who made five birdies and two bogeys.
Ishikawa started his round on the back nine and like Mclroy roared back into the tournament with a strong finish. He played his second nine in four under with birdies on the first, second, seventh and ninth.
A double bogey on the par-three 13th was the only real blemish to his round.
“I made a mental error on the 13 and went in the water. There were no excuses for that. Just my own judgment,” said Ishikawa, who won the Fujisankei Classic last weekend for his fifth title in Japan.
Korea’s Kim Dae-sub is four behind after a 70. He has won this event twice as an amateur, first in 1998 when he was 16 and then also in 2001 aged 19.
US Amateur champion An Byeong-hun from Korea missed the halfway cut after coming in with a 78.
Leading second round scores:
Par 71
(Korean unless stated)
133 - Michael Wright (AUS) 67-66
135 - Kim Dae-hyun 67-68, Choi Joon-woo 69-66
137 - Kim Dae-sub 67-70
138 - Mo Joong-kyung 72-66, Jung Jae-hoon 70-68, Kang Kyung-nam 69-69, Kim Kyung-tae 68-70, Park Boo-won 67-71, Kang Kyung-sool 67-71,
139 - Park Jae-burn 73-66, Kang Seok-min 73-66, Lee Chang-woo 72-67, Rory McIlroy (NIR) 71-68, Ryo Ishikawa (JPN) 70-69, Lee Tae-hee 71-68, Song Ki-joon 69-70Selected:
140 - Andre Stolz (AUS) 70-70, Brad Kennedy (AUS) 70-70
142 - Danny Lee (NZL) 71-71, Bae Sang-moon 71-71
144 - Eddie Lee (NZL) 76-68
145 - Ted Oh 76-69
153 - An Byeong-hun 75-78