Golf-Stunning 61 puts Fisher in charge of Irish Open (Reuters)
July 30, 2010
By Norman Dabell
KILLARNEY, Ireland, July 30 (Reuters) – Englishman RossFisher took control of the Irish Open early on Friday with ascintillating second round 10-under-par 61.
The 29-year-old improved his chances of a Ryder Cup debut bybreaking the Killarney club course record by three shots as hesurged to 12-under 130, five strokes clear of the field.
Last year’s World Matchplay champion also threatened torecord the first 59 on the European Tour as he ran up sixsuccessive birdies from the third hole and four in a row fromthe 11th.
He fell short of the magic mark, however, after missingchances in the closing holes.
“It was pretty flawless golf,” Fisher told reporters. “Aftera solid start I caught fire.
“It was a shame the run had to end on the ninth but then Igot into another great patch. I gave myself four good looks atbirdies at the last four holes but didn’t make them, and had tobe satisfied with a 61.”
Fisher bettered his career-best round by two strokes andprovided the platform for his fourth European Tour title.
Victory on Sunday would also move Fisher into Europe’s nineautomatic qualifying spots for this year’s Ryder Cup, a place hecould cement with success at the WGC Invitational in Ohio andthe U.S. PGA Championship next month.
“This is the start of three really important weeks for mewith the Ryder Cup coming up,” Fisher said. “And this (61) givesme a lot of confidence knowing I can make a lot of birdies.”
Three-times major winner Padraig Harrington, another hopingto qualify for the European team, carded a 67 on Friday to shareearly second place.
Denmark’s Anders Hansen (68), Spaniard GonzaloFernandez-Castano (69), South Korea’s Noh Seung-yul (69),Australian Brett Rumford (69) and Northern Irishman Michael Hoey(69) were also five shots behind Fisher.
(Editing by Stephen Wood; To query or comment on this storyemail sportsfeedback@thomsonreuters.com)
Tee it up with Yahoo! Sports Fantasy Golf 10
