2013 World Cup of Golf: Random photos from a day with Streels and The Mechanic

After a missing a flight last night, I thought my journey to Royal Melbourne was doomed.

But there are just times when paying through the nose seems appropriate, and despite thunderstorms doing their best to thwart my new plans, an early morning flight from Sydney eventually got me to Melbourne and seven hours later I was walking the course with Miguel Jiminez, Francesco Molinari and overnight leader Kevin Streelman at the World Cup of Golf.

The Melbourne weather was it’s usual unpredictable self this morning but as Adam Scott strolled to the practice putting green the clouds parted and the sunbathed Royal Melbourne for the rest of the day.

And it was the sun that was the indirect cause of quite a few problems on day two of the World Cup of Golf.

Several rumours suggested that the greens were running at 15, which Day described as a little unfair.

Kevin Streelman likened them to the greens at The Masters – although he later admitted he has yet to make a cut at Augusta and couldn’t be sure of how fast those greens can get.

Streelman was on fire early and opened up a four-shot lead before dropping shots at the ninth and tenth holes. His playing partners were struggling to stay under par for the tournament.

Streelman, Jimenez and Francesco walk to the 14th green at Royal Melbourne.

Jiminez tossed his ball away on the 10th hole when he found it unplayable and headed back to the tee. The Spaniard was bullish when an approach shot found the greenside bunker at the 13th hole, this time his sand wedge was briefly airborne.

Francesco Molinari was the highest-ranked player in the group (ranked 37th in the world) but was also frustrated on the greens.

Streelman stayed out of trouble for the majority of the second nine and made some great par-saving putts to stay in contention for the biggest victory of his career.

Without doubt the highlight of the day came when an insect or small spider decided to head down Miguel Jiminez’s short at the 16th green.

Struggling to find it, his caddie was called in to give him some advice. A fan yelled, “Don’t worry Miguel, redbacks are harmless!”.

I’m not sure The Mechanic is aware of the redback spider, he seemed to be quite composed during the search.

Thomas Bjorn backed up opening round 66, to take the lead late in the second round and ensured that Denmark is within range of catching the United States team over the weekend.

The Australian team find themselves eight shots behind the American team. Jason Day put together a solid 1-under par round and Adam Scott looked to have found his game again on the front nine. However, a poor bunker shot on the 11th hole resulted in a double-bogey.

Both players will need something special for Australia to break the long drought at the World Cup of Golf this weekend.

There is a great atmosphere out at Royal Melbourne this week. I urge all Melbourne golf fans to get out and check out some of the world’s best golfers. The weekend is going to get very interesting.

The wonderful tee markers at the World Cup of Golf – the iconic Melbourne trams.