Daniel Hillier one shot off lead after stunning KLM Open round
Kiwi golfer Daniel Hillier has surged into contention at the halfway point of the KLM Open after producing the round of the day at The International course in Amsterdam.
Hillier sits one shot off the lead after producing a six-under 65 to move to seven-under on the leaderboard.
The world No 90 had a long day after needing to finish his opening round after play was suspended on day one when he was at one-over.
The New Zealand Open champion eventually carded a one-under 70 before coming out hot to start round two, opening with a 30 after starting on the back nine.
A late bogey cost him the lead, with Hillier one shot back from Sweden’s Sebastian Soderberg who was at eight-under through 14 holes when play was suspended.
“There was a lot of golf played today obviously, I’m a little bit tired but played pretty steady all day. It was a little easier than yesterday for sure, still not easy. Still had to play each shot on its merit and I did that pretty well. Pretty proud,” Hillier said.
“Swing felt nice and I holed a few putts. Just one of those days where I felt in sync with everything, which was nice. Saw a couple of putts go in early and I think that gave me a bit of momentum throughout the day.”
Fellow Kiwi Kazuma Kobori moved 15 places up the leaderboard in the second round with a three-under 68 to sit in a share of 24th place.
On the PGA Tour, Ryan Fox had a front nine to forget to start the second round at The Memorial.
After ending the opening round inside the top 10, Fox lost six shots on the front nine today courtesy of a triple bogey, double bogey and a bogey - after finding the water twice.
He recovered with birdies at 11 and 13 to get back to two-over for the tournament before more bogeys at 15 and 17. A birdie at the last capped off a disappointing five-over 77, which leaves Fox at three-over for the tournament in a share of 36th. American JT Poston is the clubhouse leader at nine-under.
At the women’s US Open, Dame Lydia Ko will miss the cut for just the second time at the event, and the second time at a major this season, after a two-over 73 left her at five-over for the tournament. The projected cut mark is at two-over.