New Zealand's Michael Campbell, who shot a fine 67 yesterday to share fifth place, had an eventful start to his second round, bogeying his first hole, the 10th, before moving his cause forward with an eagle three on the 12th when playing into what is considerably more than a brisk breeze.
He immediately undid his good work by posting a double bogey six on the 13th.
James McLean, of Australia, started one shot shy of compatriot Gardiner but quickly drifted backwards with bogeys on his first and third holes to sit on minus four after four holes.
One player to make early inroads in round two of the New Zealand Golf Open this morning was Sweden’s Marcus Norgren.
Norgen completed his outward nine holes at the Paraparaumu course in three-under after posting birdies at the third, seventh and eighth to be on three-under for the tournament.
Not so fortunate was Australian Matthew Ecob, who discarded four strokes in his opening 10 holes after starting his round at two-under the card. Ecob bogeyed his second, the 11th, before a triple bogey six on the 16th saw him hurtle down the leaderboard.
Gardiner continued to struggle, dropping to five under for the tournament when he recorded his third bogey of the morning on the par three 14th.
Norgren maintained his momentum when turning for home with his fourth birdie of the round on the short par-four 10th to sit at four-under for the event, just one back from the faltering Gardiner.
Ireland’s Eddie Barr was another who seemed to appreciate the brisk winds, picking up three strokes on the field through 12 after starting even with the card following his 71 yesterday.
Barr had an early hiccup with a bogey four at the second before birdies at six and eight and an eagle three on the long 12th.
- NZPA
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