Austria and the Netherlands are tied for the lead at eight under par following the second round foursomes at the Omega Mission Hills World Cup European Qualifier in Estonia.
The Austrian team of Roland Steiner and Florian Praegant trailed Joost Luiten and Robert-Jan Derksen of the Netherlands by one shot overnight but drew level with the Dutchmen with a one over par 73. Slovenia, represented by Sebastjan Ajster and Gregor Slabe, are in third place on six under par, one ahead of fourth placed Switzerland (Martin Rominger and Nicola Sulzer) and Chile (Mark Tullo and Felipe Aguilar).
Luiten and Derksen were disappointed with their second round 74 but their hopes for a trip to China in November for the Omega Mission Hills World Cup are still very much alive.
“We struggled a bit today, said Derksen. “Neither of us played great. I hit a couple of bad drives in the middle of the round and we had a couple of three-putts. It’s difficult with the foursomes format to get into rhythm. Joost hit a seven iron on the seventh hole and it was his first full iron shot of the day. I had a 25 foot putt on the eighth hole which was my first putt other than a tap in and we three-putted.”
“Conditions were easy today but it happens. We are still leading and we know what we have to do for the next two days.”
The Austrians had a good start to their second round, shooting a two under par 34 on the front nine. Three consecutive bogeys on the back nine halted their progress before they bounced back with a birdie at the 15th to remain tied with the Netherlands.
“After the first nine we thought that if we could keep going and putt well we would be able to put a good round together, but three bogies in a row slowed us down,” said Steiner.
“We didn’t hole any putts on the back,” added Praegant. “Our course management on the tenth and 12th cost us a shot each. Par was always makeable but the putts just didn’t drop.”
The Slovenians were pleased to remain in contention having bounced back from a triple bogey on the first hole with consecutive birdies on the third and fourth holes.
“We have never played foursomes before and I was a little bit nervous on the first tee as it is a completely different game,” said Ajster. “I made a mistake hitting driver on the first hole in this format but I know that now. We started badly with a triple bogey but the two straight birdies helped us to come back a little bit.”
Slabe added: “It means the world to us. We can’t think about it now but it would be a wonderful experience.”
Switzerland ended the day in fourth place with a 73 taking them to five under. Rominger and Sulzer are no strangers to the foursomes format having played together as amateurs and in the 2006 World Cup in Barbados.
“We played quite consistently today,” said Sulzer. “We are used to playing foursomes so we probably expected better than one over but we were one under par on the back nine which was good. We just didn’t make enough putts today. We only made two mistakes on seven and nine and the rest was okay. It was a pretty good day.
“We could still have a good chance. We are only halfway through and tomorrow is going to be an important day for us. Foursomes is normally our strength so hopefully we will have a good round tomorrow ready for the final day.”
The foursomes format proved a tough one for most teams with only two nations recording under par scores for the day in relatively calm conditions.
The Greek team of Karantzias Panagiotis and Gkinis Themistoklis were one of only two teams under par in the second round, shooting a 69 to claim a share of sixth place.
“We were only one under in the fourballs which was not good,” said Themistoklis. “The secret today was that we were patient. After our score yesterday we didn’t have any pressure. This was a great accomplishment for us today.”
The Scores – after round 2
136 – Austria (Roland STEINER/Florian PRAGANT), Netherlands (Joost LUITEN / Robert-Jan DERKSEN)
138 – Slovenia (Sebastjan AJSTER/ Gregor SLABE)
139 – Switzerland (Martin ROMANGER/Nicolas SULZER), Chile (Mark TULLO/ Felipe AGUILAR)
140 – Greece (Karantzias PANAGIOTIS/Gkinis THEMISTOKLIS), Portugal (Ricardo SANTOS/ Hugo SANTOS)
141 – Finland (Mikko KORHONEN/ Joonas GRANBERG)
146 - Poland (Maksymilian SALUDA/ Jakub OSSOWSKI)
147 – Croatia (Marin STAHAN/Miro RAIC), Estonia (Mark SUURSALU/Egert POLDMA)
Format: Fourball used in first and third rounds; Foursomes (alternate shot) used in the second and final founds
