Dubai: Englishman Ross Fisher equalled the course record (64) on day two of The Dubai World Championship at Jumeirah Golf Estate's Earth course yesterday to share the leader board top spot with fellow nine under par Brit Ian Poulter.
Fisher, who finished day one — one under par (71), recorded a fantastic eight under par on day two with a bogey free card of eight birdies on holes one, two, five, seven, 12, 13, 14 and 18. He jumped from tied for seventeen after day one to reach the heady heights of tournament contention come yesterday evening.
Fisher said of a possible tournament victory, "a win here would certainly cap off what's been a below par season to being all of a sudden a pretty good season — obviously it would be a huge jump on the Race to Dubai. I'm not sure what it would put me to, but World Ranking points would be huge."
Of his round Fisher said, "Obviously to walk off this golf course without making a bogey is very, very pleasing."
"I played pretty flawless golf. Drove the ball lovely. Didn't miss any fairways and I don't know how many greens I missed, if I did at all."
Six under
Meanwhile Poulter who managed six under (69) on day one tied for fifth added to his form with a six under (66) sinking four birdies from the first four holes and then wrapping a late two birdies on 15 and 17 — to keep Fisher company at the top.
Of those birdies he said, "early fireworks, early doors, it was good fun — nine iron to kind of six feet the first. Good bunker shot on the second to probably six or eight feet. Third hole is probably eight feet. The two on four was the best of the four. It was a four iron into the wind to about 15 feet."
Current world number one Lee Westwood also ended day one three under (69) and managed five under (67) on day two to stand eight under overall in third place on the leader board. No doubt jockeyed along by his pairing with Poulter yesterday, Westwood also birdied the first three holes, six, eight, ten and 17 but bogeyed the fifth and 14th hole.
Rusty
Westwood said, "I've shown definite signs of rustiness, sloppy at 14. Really sloppy — a bit of an error at five with a wedge and then chipped it to a couple of feet, a foot and a half, and missed it — other than that I played pretty nicely."
Swede Robert Karlsson who was leading after day one with a seven under (65) is now tied for 12 after a disappointing three over par (75) performance, which leaves him four under. Meanwhile, South Korea's Seung-Yul Noh who was second on day one with a six under (66) is now tied for seven after a one over (73).
scores
Leading second round:
135 — Ross Fisher (ENG) 71-64, Ian Poulter (ENG) 69-66
136 — Lee Westwood (ENG) 69-67
137 — Paul Casey (ENG) 70-67, Thongchai Jaidee (THA) 68-69, Martin Kaymer (GER) 67-70
138 — Francesco Molinari (ITA) 71-67
139 — Louis Oosthuizen (RSA) 73-66, Alvaro Quiros (ESP) 72-67, Miguel Angel Jimenez (ESP) 70-79, Noh Seung-Yul (KOR) 66-73
140 — YE Yang (KOR) 71-69, Rafael Jacquelin (FRA) 70-70, Henrik Stenson (SWE) 69-71, Alejandro Canizares (ESP) 69-71, Robert Karlsson (SWE) 65-75
141 — Luke Donald (ENG) 74-67, Robert-Jan Derksen (NED) 71-70, Brett Rumford (AUS) 71-70,
142 — Matteo Manassero (ITA) 74-68, Richie Ramsay (SCO) 73-69, Darren Clarke (NIR) 71-71, Soren Kjeldsen (DEN) 71-71, Thomas Aiken (RSA) 70-72
143 — Peter Lawrie (IRL) 76-67, Ernie Els (RSA) 73-70, Chris Wood (ENG) 73-70, Simon Dyson (ENG) 72-71, Marcus Fraser (AUT) 72-71, Rory McIlroy (NIR) 71-72, David Horsey (ENG) 70-73, Sergio Garcia (ESP) 69-74,
144 — John Parry (ENG) 75-69, Fredrik Andersson Hed (SWE) 75-69, Padraig Harrington (IRL) 74-70, Gareth Maybin (NIR) 73-71, Joost Luiten (NED) 72-72, Anders Hansen (DEN) 74-70, Soren Hansen (DEN) 74-70, Gonzalo Fdez-Castano (ESP) 73-71, Charl Schwartzel (RSA) 69-75.
