Classic Indian Open
Calcutta Golf Club
Calcutta, India
12th - 15th March 1998

Second Round Report

Second Round Scores
First Round Report
First Round Scores

Tim Straub moves into the lead by one-shot

Calcutta, India, 13th March 1998 - America's Tim Straub moved into a one stroke lead in the Omega Tour's US$300,000 Classic Indian Open after play in the second round was once again suspended following a lightening storm over the Royal Calcutta Golf Club.

Straub completed the remaining eight holes of his first round this morning in four under par for an opening 67, and followed it with a two under par 70 for seven under par aggregate and a one shot lead over compatriot Dean Wilson.

With adverse conditions first causing a delay in the completion of the first round this morning, tournament organisers were once again forced to call a halt to proceedings in the second round with half the field still out on the course.

Having started his first round on the 10th, Straub resumed play this morning on the second hole and carded birdies at the fourth, sixth, eighth and ninth to move to five under par. In all, his first round included six birdies and one bogey.

Straub's second round 70 included a birdie putt from 15 feet at the third, a chip-in from forty feet at the 10th and an eight foot birdie at the 16th. His solitary bogey came at the 17th after his six iron from the rough found a bunker back of the green, from which he failed to get up-and-down.

"I've played very solid golf over both days, and the only real difference between the two rounds was that the putts went in on the back nine this morning," said 31-year-old Straub, who finished sixth in this event last year.

"With all the rain over the past couple of days the course it is definitely playing a lot longer - there is less run on the fairways and the greens are softer - so I was very pleased to shoot two under in the second round."

Second placed Wilson, meanwhile, followed his first round 71 with a bogey-free 67, and he lies second on the clubhouse leaderboard two shots ahead of Choi Kyung-ju and Nam Young-woo of Korea, and America's Ted Purdy.

First round leader, Mike Cunning of America, who opened with a 66, has dropped back to five under par after seven holes, and will complete the remainder of his round first thing tomorrow morning.

The lowest of the day came from Australia's Leith Wastle, who had an amazing turn around in fortune when he followed an 80 with a superb six under par 66. The 33-year-old from Ballarat carded eight birdies and two bogeys, and though he is still two over the card, his second round performance guaranteed his presence this weekend.

"In the first round I struggled to find the correct distance with my irons, so in the second round I decided to under-club it a little and as a result I left it pretty close on a lot of the greens," said Wastle, 35th on the 1997 Omega Order of Merit.

"This is the biggest swing between two consecutive rounds that I've ever had. At the start of the day my aim was to make the cut and now I'm pretty confident that I will."