Birbie blitz has Blake back on track

Blake Windred and caddy Jason McBeath on Friday at the AAC 2019. (Photo: Golf Australia / Justin Falconer)
Live scores, tee times and more for the AAC 2019
A gutsy birdie-birdie finish helped Blake Windred maintain his night-time lead at the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship 2019 when the weekend beckons in Shanghai.
The New South Welshman played a 1-under-71 on Friday morning that could have been much less impressive, though it wasn't for a late eruption on its way back to the clubhouse.
Windred & # 39; s curling putt on the 9th brought him to 10-under for the tournament, today's effort eight shots inferior to yesterday's extraordinary 63, but equally important for the 21-year-old.
"That's the most pleasant thing today," Windred said, "hopefully that was my bad lap and I ground it pretty well, so it's not really that bad. I'm still moving forward.
“The aim was to shoot 5-under each round. So I have a bit of work to do on the weekend, but so far I am on schedule. "
View Blake & # 39; s full Friday press conference …
After turning off the 10th, Windred bogeys suffered on 11 and 15 to slide back to 8-under for the week through the turn.
He dropped another shot at the daunting par-4 1st but immediately rattled a few birds to get things back in order.
"[The morning] is just a little bit different with a little bit of that fog or whatever, but there was a little difference initially," said Windred.
"I prefer the afternoon, so the nine at the back made me feel a bit more comfortable with my numbers.
"It used to be at least a difference of eight meters, which is a lot if you have a pair of 8, 7, 6 and 5 irons."
A three-putt bogey from under the hole on the par-3 4th was a donated shot, but a brilliant par except an impossible stance next to a 7-bunker waved back the momentum.
Then the local resident of Newcastle caught fire on the back of a hoop pull of the tee above the trees on the 8th.
After getting up, he knocked another bird out of the hole, before he read his approach from a fairway bunker at nine and tried another bird.
His 15-foot hung on the edge, but finally fell into the hole, Windred ended his day with a birdie on the hole that the hardes played on the PGA Tour in 2019.
“At the age of 9 I went a bit too fast with a 3-wood and went into that trap. I had 175 for the flag. I practiced that shot a lot. I've almost worn out my iron 6, "said Windred.
"I just hit a perfect iron of 175 and left myself with a 15-footer … it's a joke between my caddy and me, saying" let's just finish it here. "
And if he hopes for another sign that this may be his week, Windred need look no further than his bagman Jason McBeath.
Jason is a good friend of him and his father and has participated twice before for Blake.
Both occasions resulted in victories in the Avondale medal.
"He pawned for me twice, and 100 percent record. We'll try to keep it this week. But yes, he's a legend.
I feel that he was very calm during the lap of yesterday and today, and I think he enjoyed the cameras as much as I did, if not anymore.
An hour after signing his card, Windred's lead had risen to four.
Chinese duo Kaiwen Liu and Yuxin Lin, the 2017 AAC champion, are stable at 6-under par.
The next best Australian is the state teammate Nathan Barbieri of Windred on 3-under, the 22-year-old still with 15 holes to go in his second round.
More to come …