Roe breaks into share of lead
Not even snapping a club into three pieces could prevent Sheffield’s Mark Roe from claiming a share of the lead in the EnterCard Scandinavian Masters today.
Roe’s second-round 65 at Barseback ended in amazing fashion with a birdie on the 18th despite his tee shot landing just behind a tree to the right of the fairway.
“I was about a foot away from it and if I hit the shot I wanted to, I would definitely have broken my arm or my wrist,” explained Roe.
“The other option was to aim 30 yards left and hit a big cut with a seven iron but even that was risky. I knew the club would snap and it could come back and stab me in the arm.
“I guess I’m trying to say I’m really brave and I hit it well and it landed about six feet from the pin!”
Holing the putt gave Roe a 10-under-par halfway total of 134 and a share of the lead with Belgium’s Nicolas Colsaerts, who carded his second consecutive 67.
Sweden’s Fredrik Jacobson was two shots back on eight under after bogeys on the last two holes in a 67.
Roe currently lies 144th on the Order of Merit and in danger of losing his card after 21 unbroken years on tour, but revealed he would happily retire if he failed to keep his playing privileges.
“I’m 43 years old and I never really intended to play this long,” added Roe, who was famously disqualified from the Open at Sandwich in 2003 when leading in the clubhouse during the third round due to a scorecard mix-up with playing partner Jesper Parnevik.
“I have beautiful twin daughters and I just miss them incredibly and want to see more of them. Unless I’m on the leaderboard and getting that competitive buzz I don’t feel like playing the game to be honest so if I do keep my card I’ll just play 12 events next year. If I don’t I’ll retire.”
Overnight joint leader Benn Barham – still playing with borrowed clubs after his failed to arrive from London on Tuesday – could only manage a 73 to drop back to four under.
“I’m still in a pretty decent position and hopefully no-one will go mad this afternoon,” said the 30-year-old from Kent. “The borrowed clubs are fine but the putter went a bit cold today.
“I played okay but just needed to hole more putts. Days like yesterday you see the lines, hit the putt and it goes in, but today I was a little bit indecisive and that made the difference.
“Even if the clubs don’t arrive now I’d still like to know where they are for the peace of mind. I don’t want to think I may never see them again.”
| Related Stories: |
|
