Michael Campbell prepares to play a shot on the 10th
fairway during the second day of the Hong Kong Open.
REUTERS/Bobby Yip
Kiwi Michael Campbell is leading the Hong Kong Open after
world number one and defending champion Rory McIlroy missed the
cut when he suffered a nightmare with the putter and double
bogeyed his final hole.
The U.S PGA champion four-putted the 10th green, his last of
the tournament, to cap a frustrating two-over-par 72 round
which gave him a total of five-over 145, 14 shots behind
leader Campbell.
"I had a great start getting it to four under and in a
position from which I might have even won the tournament but
then it all went on the slide," Northern Irishman McIlroy
told reporters.
"Now I am going to work on few things with my putter before
playing in Dubai next week," added the 23-year-old who missed
the cut for the first time since the U.S. Open in June.
McIlroy knew he had to shoot low in the second round after
opening with a three-over-par 73 at the Hong Kong Golf Club
on Thursday and, starting from the 11th tee, he did just that
producing four early birdies to get under par and within four
shots of the lead.
However, at the par-five third hole, his 11th of the day, he
put his approach shot into a greenside bunker and after
missing out on a good birdie opportunity, his charge up the
leaderboard came to a halt.
A putt to save par at the fourth hole lipped out, at the
seventh he misjudged the speed of the green and three putted
and another shot was dropped on the following green when he
put his first putt six feet past the hole and failed to hole
the return.
"The wheels came off at that par five, it was a huge momentum
breaker," said McIlroy, who sealed the European Tour's money
list last week with a third-place finish in Singapore.
The cut was set at two over par.
New Zealander Campbell, who has endured a seven-year slump
since winning the U.S Open in 2005, holds a one-shot lead
over the field after seven birdies in a second-round 64 that
took him to nine under for the tournament.
On hearing McIlroy would not be playing the last two rounds,
Campbell declared with a smile: "That makes winning the UBS
Hong Kong Open a lot easier."
China's Zhang Lan-wei, Miguel Angel Jimenez of Spain and
Swede Fredrick Andersson Hed are tied second on eight-under
132.
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