12:15pm Thursday 2nd September 2010
IT WAS a game of musical chairs at Royal St David’s as the leading contenders for the Ryder Cup Wales 2010 Welsh National PGA Championship merely swapped places.
The key beneficiary on day two, which saw the top 50 and ties make the cut in the £42,500 tournament, was two-time champion Simon Edwards (Windermere).
Edwards carded a level par 69 to rise to the top of the leaderboard. His opening day two-under 67 sufficient to give him a one-stroke advantage over Mark Plummer (Players Club), who also shot level par on a day when just one of the 99-strong field broke par despite another day of benign sun-drenched conditions.
Slipping off top spot was the Vale of Glamorgan’s European Tour regular Sion Bebb, who carded a four-over-par 73 to move to one-over-par. He was joined on that mark by Sandiway’s Gareth Jones, who followed his opening 69 with a one-over 70.
That gave them a two shot advantage over Adam Constable (Cardiff) and current Welsh Open PGA champion Richard Dinsdale (Parc Golf) , who were three-over after rounds of 71 and 69 respectively.
Two-time PGA Cup player Edwards, who lifted the title in 2002 and 2003, is very much an ‘occasional’ player nowadays and so he was refusing to get too carried away with just 18 holes to play, especially over a course he labelled as ‘brutal’.
“I’ve had fun the last two days and while I haven’t hit it pretty good I’ve putted pretty good,” said Edwards.
“It’s brutal out there and if the wind got up no-one would break 75. It’s hard work, but if you play good you break par but it’s Harlech and you get that here. You’ve got to hit it in the right place and thankfully for the first two rounds I’ve done that to put me in with a shout.
“Tomorrow is just about going out and doing what I’ve done the past two days. Keep relaxed, hit and swing and see what happens.”
His nearest rival, former PGA Assistants’ champion and three-time Welsh National winner Plummer, is on course to achieve his aims for the week – but still has the possibility of far exceeding his expectations.
© Copyright 2001-2012 Newsquest Media Group
http://www.thewestmorlandgazette.co.uk/trade_directory/