Fraser edges Foster on foggy 1st day

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April 22, 2010

Marcus Fraser’s seven-under 65 has given him the lead in the fog-disrupted first round of the Ballantine’s Championship.

Marcus Fraser carded a bogey-free seven-under-par 65 to post a one-shot clubhouse lead at the end of the fog-disrupted first day of the Ballantine’s Championship.
The 31-year-old Australian failed to post a single sub-70 round at last week’s Volvo China Open, but on Thursday he shrugged away over six hours of delays to top the leaderboard by one shot ahead of playing partner Mark Foster of Worksop.
Ted Oh led the local challenge at Pinx Golf Club and was a further shot off the pace alongside Welshman Jamie Donaldson and Australia’s Rick Kulacz.
Donaldson and Kulacz, though, are among the one third of the field who will have to return on Friday to complete their opening rounds due to the heavy fog that blacketed Jeju island, just off the Korean peninsula, for more than six hours on Thiursday.
There were at 66 players unable to finish their rounds and for them they face the prospect of 36 holes on Friday, although more fog is forecast over the next two days.
“I felt like I played really well last week in China, but I didn’t putt very well,” said Fraser, the 2003 Russian Open champion.
“It felt like it was very close and I felt like I practised really well at the start of the week, so I was hoping for a good round to get going.”
Fraser trailed playing partner Foster by one shot at the turn with the highlight for the Australian a 35-foot birdie putt which kick-started a hat-trick of birdies around the turn – a treble which was also matched by the Englishman.
Both added two birdies on the back nine, but Fraser edged ahead with Foster blotting his scorecard with two bogeys en route to a six under 66.
“I am very pleased,” added Fraser.
“I feel like I drove it very well and putted really well. I gave myself a lot of chances on the greens and managed to make a few.
“The difference from last week was just basically the putter.
“I managed to make some putts – instead of walking up and tapping them in, they managed to go in and it’s a much better feeling than just sliding by the hole all the time.”
Singapore-based Foster – like Fraser a one-time European Tour winner – showed glimpses of a return to form with a second round 64 in China last week after last posting a top-10 finish in August 2008.
And the 2003 Dunhill Championship winner, who did finish last season with an 11th place at the Hong Kong Open, looked on course to establish a healthy first-round advantage with an early eagle boosting his cause until a wayward putter halted his charge on the back nine as temperatures dropped and the skies darkened.
“It was very frustrating coming off early as I was four under after six,” he said.
“But what pleased me more than anything, was the way I kept restarting. Every time we went back out, I started well.
“I had to go back out there three times; so that was probably the most pleasing part of the day.
“I got going early and Marcus took over on the back nine and almost kept me going really.
“I couldn’t hole any putts on the back nine so I dragged him along on the front and he seemed to drag me along on the back, so it worked well.”
Oliver Fisher posted a fourth straight top-10 finish last week after losing his card last year and continued a fine run of form with a bogey-free 68.
The Madeira Islands Open runner-up was tied for sixth in a group alongside the in-form duo of Ernie Els and Anthony Kim.
A weary Els took a week off after a top-20 finish at the Masters after an energy-sapping but rewarding run which featured wins at the WGC-CA Championship and Arnold Palmer Invitational.
“I shot a 68 so happy to get done, it was a long day,” said the 40-year-old South African.
“We started this morning at seven and we finished at six, so it was a long day.
“It could have been a little better, but not a bad start, so I am looking forward to the rest of the week.”
Kim, who finished sixth on Jeju island two years ago, followed up a third US PGA Tour title of his career at the Shell Houston Open with a third-placed finish at Augusta and matched Fisher’s flawless first round.
“I stayed patient and I’m happy with how I played, I just didn’t score very well,” said the 24-year-old American Ryder Cup winner.
“The greens were very slow. My last tournament was the Masters, so the greens were very fast and now it’s very slow so it’s a little bit of an adjustment, but hopefully I can do better.”