KEY POINTS:
Not that long ago touted as the next big thing in English golf, Nick Dougherty is again moving in the right direction to do an illustrious mentor proud.
Dougherty today showed touches of class, hitting 17 of 18 greens in regulation in a five-under-par 66 which promoted him to the second-round lead in the $1.5 million New Zealand Open at Gulf Harbour.
It was precisely the sort of performance which former England great Nick Faldo saw in Dougherty when he took the younger man under his wing several years back before proclaiming an extraordinary career awaited him.
A blemish-free round gave Dougherty, 24, the lead on seven-under 135, where he was joined late in the afternoon by Australian Wade Ormsby, who shot a hot 63 to make light work of boisterous southerly winds which fanned the Whangaparaoa Peninsula coastal course.
Ormsby's great round included nine birdies, among them a 20-foot downhill left-to-right tester from the fringe at the last, which has set him up to maintain a fine record in the New Zealand Open after top-10 placings in 2003 and 2004.
There is some serious artillery threatening to fire at the weekend, with New Zealand's world No 22 Michael Campbell menacingly one stroke behind the leading pair, a bogey five on the 18th his only setback in a compelling 65.
Seventeen players are within four shots of Dougherty and Ormsby, with overnight leader Scott Strange, of Australia, alone in fourth on 137, followed by a bunch of nine on 138, including England pair Andrew Raitt and Shaun Webster, Irishman Peter Lawrie and Australians Peter Senior, Greg Chalmers, Jarrod Moseley, Marcus Fraser, Nathan Green and David Bransdon.
Another four shared 14th place on 139, with New Zealand's Michael Long among them after a round of 70 kept him in contention.
Twelve of the 41 New Zealanders entered made the cut, with Campbell and Long being accompanied by Stephen Scahill, rookie pro Mark Purser, left-handers Tim Wilkinson and Gareth Paddison, Doug Holloway, Tony Christie, Hamish Robertson, Doug Batty, Phil Tataurangi and Mahal Pearce.
Club pro Mike Duncumb and amateur James Gill had the mortifying experience of bogeying their last holes to miss the cut by one shot.
The cut for the leading 65 players plus ties was made at plus two 144, with Tataurangi making the grade right on the bubble after charging around in 66 today.
But it was Dougherty who set the standard, and today's effort represented tangible reward for the hard work he has put into finding some impetus for what has been a flat year.
It all began so promisingly as he strung together four top-five results in 10 appearances on the European Tour to bound into contention for the Ryder Cup team.
But his season began to unravel as Dougherty endured a miserable time of it off the course, with a relationship failing and his grandfather dying of cancer.
Inside the ropes, the free spirit began to feel his muscles tighten to over-emphasise the importance of what he was doing, as he missed 10 successive cuts during the middle of this year.
It was not a total train wreck of a season as evidenced by earnings of 653,416 euros ($1,287,012), but his tour ranking slid to 39th from last year's 15th and he missed that Ryder Cup appointment as well.
"I even started to take it personally when I got bad breaks on the golf course," he said of his mid-year slump.
"There are so many times that I blasphemed, but of course the golf ball has no memory, and it is the same for everyone out there. I think I was just trying too hard; it meant so much to me.
"I have come to realise it is just a sport -- and I'm lucky enough to play it for a living -- but that's all it is."
Dougherty could have gone scarily low had his radar been operational after he started his round at the 10th hole and sharp iron play left him any number of opportunities.
He began with seven successive pars after missing birdie putts from three feet on 10 and 11, five feet on 12, 10 feet on 13 and 12 feet on 16.
He finally saw the ball drop with his opening birdie on 17 and others followed at the 18th, first, second and fourth holes.
"I've played nicely the past two days but I wouldn't say I was at my best. Hopefully I've saved my best for the weekend."
- NZPA
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