MELBOURNE, Australia -- Robert Allenby is making himself
right at home in the Australian Masters -- again.
The Australian, the 2004 and 2005 winner at Huntingdale, shot a
4-under 68 on Friday to maintain a one-stroke lead. He had a
9-under 135 total.
Fellow Australian Aaron Baddeley had a 66 -- the best round of
the day -- to reach 8 under, and five players were four shots back,
including 18-year-old Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland. He followed
his opening 70 with a 69.
Australians Terri Pilkadaris (68), Rick Kulacz (69) and Scott
Strange (69) and Sweden's Daniel Chopra (70) also were 5 under.
Allenby took a two-stroke lead with a birdie on the 17th, but
gave the shot back on the 18th after an errant tee shot.
"It would have been nice to stay at 10 under because my goal is
to shoot 5 under each day," Allenby said. "To get to 20 under ...
would win the tournament quite easily, unless Aaron goes out there
and does something silly."
Baddeley had eight birdies and two bogeys. He capped the round
with a wedge on his final hole, the par-4 ninth, to inches for a
birdie.
"Overall, I was very pleased ... I'm going to be right there
for the weekend," Baddeley said. "I feel very comfortable and I
feel like I can shape the ball the way I need to."
McIlroy said he enjoyed playing his first two rounds with
Baddeley, who also was subject to high expectation early in his
career after winning the Australian Open as an amateur in 1999 and
in 2000 after turning pro.
"We fed off one another today, we were hitting good shots,
hitting fairways, hitting greens and holing a few putts, which
helps," McIlroy said.
Michael Campbell of New Zealand, the 2005 U.S. Open champion,
failed to make the cut, shooting an 84 Friday after an opening 71.
Starting his round on the 10th hole, Campbell had four pars,
then went bogey, bogey, double bogey and bogey en route to an
outward 41. He had two triple bogeys, two bogeys and a birdie on
his last nine.
The tournament is sanctioned by the European and Australasian
tours.