Smith and Fox Ready for Tasty Sandwich Weekend

Sandwich, England: Cameron Smith and Ryan Fox will lead a strong contingent of former Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship (AAC) participants into the weekend at the 149th Open.

As the second round at Royal St George’s drew to a close, Australian Smith and New Zealander Fox were among a group tied for 17th place on four-under-par 136.

Smith followed up an opening 69 with a 67 while Fox carded a second successive 68 to leave themselves within striking distance of the lead, being set by South African Louis Oosthuizen on 129.

“Aussies have had a pretty good run here, so that's nice,” said Smith, referencing the triumph of Greg Norman in the 1993 Open at this venue.

He added: “You can definitely see how he won around here, being such a great driver of the golf ball.

“The course is much like home, probably just a touch windier. You have to play the ball along the ground a bit more. I love it. It presents a nice challenge. The layout here is really good, good mix of holes, few wedges, longer irons, and a few really tough holes there at the back.”

Like Smith, Fox is in confident mood heading into the weekend.

“I feel pretty comfortable with every part of my game at the moment. I’m just trying to keep it in play as much as I can, stay out of the long stuff, and hope the putter continues to work. I’ll just keep doing what I'm doing,” said Fox who was inundated with good luck messages.

“I've just checked my phone. It’ll probably take me an hour to replay all the messages I've had so far, which is nice. I think it was a pretty nice watching time for back home. I hope I had a couple shots make it on TV for everyone at home.

“Hopefully I can keep doing it and give them something else to cheer about over the weekend.”

Smith and Fox are not the only past AAC participants to progress to the final two rounds.

Joining them are the Thai duo of Jazz Janewattananond (tied for 37th on one-under 139) and Poom Saksansin (tied 64th on 141).

With just a handful of holes remaining in their second round, the fate of ex-AAC champions Takumi Kanaya of Japan and China's Lin Yuxin were hanging in the balance.

Ultimately, there was joy for Lin but disappointment for Kanaya.

Needing a par at 18 to ensure his continuation in the championship, Lin made a brilliant up-and-down from a greenside bunker.

It was a tense climax to a roller-coaster round for the two-time AAC winner who signed for a two-over 72 to squeeze above the cut line on 141 and claim his first Major cut in four attempts, having twice previously come up short in the Masters Tournament as well as failing to progress in the 2018 Open at Carnoustie.

In contrast, former World Amateur Golf Ranking number one Kanaya was left to rue a double-bogey seven at the long 14th. His courageous effort to repair the damage fell agonisingly short with a birdie on 18 meaning he carded a 72 to go with his opening 70, missing the cut by just one stroke.

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