KEY POINTS:
Chilled out Australian golfer Steven Bowditch was in the mood for hot scoring as he stormed to the outright lead in the second round of the New Zealand Open today.
Bowditch, who has worked overtime to take the intensity out of his game, was a serene figure as he stitched together a joint championship low of seven-under-par 65 in ideal conditions.
That promoted him to 10-under 134 at the halfway stage at The Hills near Queenstown, one clear of his nearest challenger, joint first-round leader Paul Sheehan, of Australia, who had five birdies on the back nine for a 67.
Michael Long, of New Zealand, birdied the last after a fine recovery from the rough for a 67 and outright third on 136.
Banked up behind him is a group of four on 138 - Englishman Richard Finch, who matched Bowditch with a blemish-free 65 to vault from a share of 52nd overnight, Australian Ewan Porter, who shot 66, his fellow countryman Gary Simpson, 69, and Scotland's Peter Whiteford, 68.
Another three players shared eighth place on 139, among them Australian Steven Jeffress, who flew high with a 68 thanks to a rare albatross one on the 301, par-four 15th.
The cut mark was one-over 145, with Phil Tataurangi squeezing in on the bubble, but the championship hopes of many aspirants were left in tatters, among them New Zealand No 1 Michael Campbell, compatriot Steve Alker and Australian veterans Peter O'Malley and Peter Senior.
Thirteen of 33 New Zealanders survived the cut, headed by Long and including Mahal Pearce and Richard Lee, who are tied for 15th on 141, Josh Geary one back of those two after a 67, plus rookie Brenden Stuart and Gareth Paddison alongside Geary on 142.
One other notable individual enlarged his fan club, as 71-year-old New Zealander Sir Bob Charles shot 68 to safely finish inside the cut line with a one-under 143.
With rounds of 69 and 67 behind him, Long was thankful for a strong finish today as he birdied three of his closing four holes.
He was reluctant to get ahead of himself as he seeks the title to go alongside his 1996 Open crown.
"I'm sure I'll get nervous on the first tee tomorrow but they'll be good nerves," he said after an error-free effort.
"I want to stay relaxed and let everything fall into place. My touch on the greens today was much better, and it always seems to come down to putting."
Bowditch's deep dip into red figures caught the eye as he boarded the birdie train with seven birdies in eight holes midway through his journey in the scenic wonderland of the Wakatipu Basin.
Bowditch, 24, certainly had the look of a man who appreciated his surroundings, saying he was at peace with himself and by extension his game.
"I've been far too intense out on the course and it's been hurting me," he said of the past two years of fruitless toil on the PGA Tour and Nationwide Tour in the United States.
Diagnosed with clinical depression three years ago, for which he received counselling and medical help, Bowditch was prone to get too down on himself if things didn't go his way out on the course.
He has turned to a sports psychologist in the US for help, and it is working on the evidence of today's performance.
"It's a matter of me getting out of my own way," he explained.
"Here, I have tried just to have fun and remain more relaxed. To a certain degree I've been playing like I don't care."
Bowditch said greens staff "poured the lake" on the greens overnight, leaving them in a receptive state this morning when he was among the first group out at 7am.
Having posted a spirited 69 in testing winds yesterday, he appreciated the benign conditions.
"I found I could attack a lot of greens with a seven or eight iron."
His irons got him out of potential bother on numerous occasions as he found just five of 14 fairways. He managed to hit 16 of the 18 greens in regulation and left himself a succession of very gettable putts.
A 20-footer on nine represented his longest putt of the day, then his approach on the par-three 10th rolled down off a bank to close range to kick-start his charge.
"I got fired up when I bogeyed number seven and what happened at nine and 10th got me started."
His last birdie came at the notoriously difficult par-three 16th when he flushed a six iron to within three feet.
"It was the perfect shot. I couldn't hit it better if I shot 100 balls at it."
- NZPA
