Australian PGA Championship, Daniel Popovic and China’s Xin Jun Zhang are Tied at the Top
Daniel Popovic / Getty Images Xin Jun Zhang
Daniel Popovic and China’s Xin Jun Zhang are tied top of the Australian PGA Championship after the second round at the Palmer Coolum Resort golf club. Both players are at -10 under par for the tournament, Daniel with a modest -2 under par 70, and Xin Jun fired in another round of -5 under par 67 for his total.
Daniel said he was stoked to be still at t he top of the leaderboard;
“ I am stoked, ”I can’t get the smile off my face since I finished the round. It’s an unbelievable experience. I am lost for words explaining it.”
Zhang used an interpreter to speak about his golf;
“I felt good today, I am getting used to this layout and to the wind. I’ve learned some English, mostly related to golf, like ‘how do you think this breaks’?”
Matthew Griffen and Geoff Ogilvey are tied in third place at -8 under par, just two shots adrift of the leaders. Tied in fifth spot are Brad Kennedy and Mathew Goggin, both at -7 under par for the tournament.
Geoff Ogilvey, the 2006 US Open winner and 2008 Australian PGA champion, said he thought his experience of being in contention heading into the weekend should put him in a good position to attack.
“It helps. Being on the first tee can be a scary place the first few times you are there on the weekend, there is a no substitute for experience. It’s a nice advantage to have but there are a lot of good golfers in this field playing well and there is still a long way to go.”
Geoff really wants to finish the year inside the top 50 in the World rankings, so he is aiming to win here;
“I don’t know if it has to be first to get into the top 50, but it probably has to be first two or three, I don’t study world rankings that much. But that would be a bonus, winning the tournament would be the best part, but if that was a side bonus that would be good. I feel like I am in a good place. It’s nice I will be in one of the last few groups tomorrow and if I can have a good score, maybe get right up there after tomorrow and give it a crack on Sunday.”
