Composed Pike Holds Onto Lead
The Age
Saturday November 25, 2006
AARON Pike took one walk in the surreal light at the head of the Australian Masters field and decided it was worth another stroll yesterday. For a second day of the $1.5 million tournament, the 21-year-old Brisbane amateur outshone all the professionals from Europe and around Australia at Huntingdale.
Now he must be thinking in fantastic terms. With a two-shot lead, Pike might well be on the way to one of the more remarkable victories in Australian professional golf history, provided he can hold his nerve. He goes into today's third round at 11 under par after a calm, considered 69 yesterday.Pike, the 115-kilogram lad who grew up playing state cricket in Darwin, scarcely faltered after his opening 64, with his only two bogeys of the tournament coming at the final two holes last night.A cluster of challengers circled, awaiting the gaffes that they will expect from someone with so little experience at this level. Justin Rose, the gifted Englishman, was closest at nine under par after he carded a six-under-par 66 for the day. New South Welshman Kurt Barnes is a further shot away at eight under after a brilliant 66.Australian Open champion John Senden (seven under), Aaron Baddeley and Peter Lonard (five under), and Robert Allenby (four under) are still in the hunt, while Kiwi Michael Campbell missed the cut, and Stuart Appleby (two under) has some chasing to do.Rose, who had a good year in America this year, might well prove to be the big danger, notwithstanding his lack of experience at Huntingdale. Judging the course to be three shots easier yesterday, he capitalised handsomely. The Briton spends his weeks wrestling with Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Vijay Singh for prominence in America; perhaps the weaker field here empowers him.But he said he was focusing on his own game. "No matter what, this is a great standard of golf and you have to play great golf to win," said Rose. "I'm trying to focus on it as I'm playing well, and I'm playing the golf course rather than the field."Pike hooked his first drive yesterday into trees lining the first fairway and you could almost hear the mutterings about an inevitable implosion. But somehow he punched an iron shot onto the green, made his par, and surged on. He birdied four par fives and by the 14th had rocketed to a four-shot lead.The Queenslander did not make a bogey for the tournament until his 35th hole, the 17th yesterday, and then he dropped another shot at the last after a bad drive. "It's not the best way to finish, but it happens," he said later.Pike, who will tee off with Rose in the final group today, said he would have the same mindset. "I'm going to approach it the same way that I did on Thursday and the same as I did today," he said. "Just because I'm in the lead, just because there's top-10 ranked players or top-20 ranked players behind me, doesn't mean I'm going down to the range to hit 1000 balls because I think I can get better."I've shown the last two days that I can play. If I do that again and shoot 11 under on the weekend, which I think is do-able, then it's going to be hard for those guys to run over the top of me."While Pike will not be able to collect the lucrative prizemoney on offer here, he has had a tournament to remember already. Not since Brett Rumford won the Players Championship in 1999 has an amateur won an Australasian tour event.The saddest story of the week reached its conclusion earlier in the day, when Victorian Jon Abbott, a first-year professional who had an astonishing 96 in the opening round, withdrew from the tournament in consultation with a PGA Tour official. Abbott took double-bogey at the first yesterday and by the time he completed the fifth hole, he was 14 over par for the day and 38 over par for the tournament. Complaining of a headache and drawing on common sense, he withdrew.
© 2006 The Age