Matt Jones is in the hunt at the Australian Open heading into the weekend after he fought back in his second round on Friday morning.
The 2015 champion made a fast start after teeing off at just after 7am on Friday alongside American superstar Jordan Spieth. Jones started the day at even par after a disappointing end to his first round but exploded out of the blocks, making birdies on four of his first seven holes.
Jones looked at ease at The Australian, his home golf course, making another two birdies at the start of his back nine to reach six under for the day.
A bogie on the fourth hole, his 13th for the day after starting on the 10th, and a poor three-putt on his final hole saw Jones slip back to finish four under in a tie for fifth.
“I played much better than yesterday. Of course, the conditions were a lot easier but I hit a lot of good shots, made a lot of putts and I think my only bogey was on the last hole, which was disappointing, but you’re going to have them, and I’m in a good position for tomorrow,” Jones said.
“My mid irons and short irons were great today. I had a lot of good birdie putts coming, the front nine especially and in my second nine. I think I could have had a couple better, but I’m sure I can make up for that tomorrow and Sunday.
“At this course you have to be sitting in the right spot and knowing the course as well as I do will give me a bit of an advantage. I hope the wind picks up more than it is right now, because when we teed off yesterday it was a lot windier than this. It looks like the morning afternoon wave is going to have a bit of a head start.”
Jones, from Oyster Bay, said he would take the confidence from his 2015 triumph into the weekend.
“Of course, any time you win you get confidence and being on my home course that I’ve played since I was 15, you’re always going to be a little more confident and prepared than maybe other players,” he said.
“[My game is] close enough [to how it was then]. My putting is better, I believe. My drive is not quite where I’d like it to be, but I’ll probably work on that this afternoon, try and figure it out and I’ll be good to go.”
Spieth struggled with his putter throughout his second round, notching up 34 putts as the tough greens got the better of the world No.2. Spieth finished at one under but, with an early start to his third round on Saturday on the cards, is likely to get the best of the conditions and is a possibility to surge back into contention.
Australia’s No.1-ranked player Jason Day backed up his impressive five under par 66 from round one and will be among the final pairings on moving day.
