3. ACE Group Classic

Round 2 - A bit of a breeze was blowing today, but nothing to stress out the players, and the greens were a tad slower but still quick. Les Souter's nightmare continued as he posted another very uncharacteristic 80, almost all of the damage coming on the front nine. After also carding 80 in the opening round, Roger Instell found his A-game to fire a very creditable 66 today to become upwardly mobile. Ian McKinley also improved by shooting a 70 but is still languishing in the bottom half of the leaderboard. One stroke ahead of Ian after coming to grips with the course was Hans Kunok who looked much more like his normal self during his round of 69. Mel Tyke moved into the top 10 courtesy of a fine 67 and he is still in with a fighting chance. After his fine first round Bob Fletcher was expecting a bad reaction today. Well, he got a reaction but it was far from bad. He shot the best score of the day, a super 63, and an eagle on the 18th saw him leapfrog Colin Montgomerie (no mean feat) to lead the field at halfway.

Round 4 - The winds were still high but overnight rain had rendered the greens sluggish. Les Souter finally carded an under par round, a 70, and he'll be glad this week is over. Hans Kunok's second 69 of the event left him in the bottom half of the leaderboard, mainly due to his slow start. In Round 3 Ian McKinley threw caution to the wind and posted his best round. Today he did the same and that approach paid off again as he fired a 67 to finish tied 15th. Mel Tyke carded his second 68 of the tourney to grab a share of 10th spot, thereby claiming more Charles Schwab Cup points, the only player to do so in all of the first three events. Bob Fletcher began his round as one of three joint leaders. After also coming in with a 68, also his second this week, he still didn't know if he'd won. It transpired that the other co-leaders had crumbled under the pressure - Lee Janzen could only shoot a 73 and Bart Bryant a 74. Bob had been level with Colin Montgomerie and Olin Browne, but his birdies on the final two holes proved to be decisive, carving out a two-shot victory!!

Thanks Mel, don't think I've ever been so focused in any 4-round tourney before!! Putting was the key. Too often it's a weak part of my game, but for some reason last week it was probably the best part!

And yes, my handicap will change, as will others, but that's only right, Ian's system has worked really well in the past and I'm sure will continue to do so!!

Yes Mel and now we have to put up with this.




For at least a week - ROTFLMFAO