Terry

Pilkadaris

Twelve months ago the veteran Australian opened with rounds of 66-68-65 to find himself T2 heading into the final round, on the brink of a breakthrough. But he posted 74 on Sunday and ended the week stuck in a pack at T2. This year he finds himself at 175th on the Race to Dubai from 11 starts, with one top ten when T7 in the Mauritius Open. But look further and there are two more tales of what might have been. He led both the Indian Open and the King’s Cup at halfway, before slipping to T15 on both occasions. A curiosity to note: he was first to congratulate fellow Asian Tour regular Paul Peterson last weekend. Inspiration?

For the Australian veteran it must have been reminiscent of his first-ever visit to the Viennese course in 2010, when he stroked a 66 for T2. Alas since then he’s rarely shone again. He ended that week T15, but has since logged Mc-MC-T38. He was flawless Thursday, first of all marking eight pars and one birdie at 14 on the back nine, then starting the front nine with red at 1 and 3 before parring his way home. If he stays in contention until Sunday watch out: his only two final rounds on the course were a 67 and a 68.

That was just a shot behind Thorbjørn Olesen’s new course record of 65 and included a double bogey-6 at the 17th. It came at the Aussie’s eighth hole of the day but birdies at 12, 15 and 18 meant he turned in 1-under. Pilkadaris, whose best result in four starts this season is T36, got hot on his second nine and circled birdies at 3, 5, 6 and 7 to take a share of second place, just one behind leader Olesen.

If his name has cropped up infrequently this year, that’s because Pilkadaris has been plying his trade mainly on the Challenge Tour. And with finishes of T12 and T16 in his latest two starts at that level, today’s round isn’t out of the blue. The Aussie opened with birdies at 10 and 11 and added another pair at 15 and 16. On his second nine he made further gains on the par 5s at 4 and 6 before dropping his only shot of the day at No. 8.

At last, a good start for the Aussie and something to build on. Slow starts have contributed to the 42-year-old missing five of his last six cuts, the only bright spot a T22 in his home Perth International last month. Today, he picked up shots at 14 and 18 (both par 5s) on his opening nine and circled further red at 2, 3, 5 and 8. He dropped his only shot of the day at 4. Pilkadaris was excellent from tee to green and missed just a single fairway and two greens in regulation. He’s T5 on the end-of-play leaderboard, just two behind leader Daniel Im.

Pilkadaris will rue the bogeys that littered his front nine, but be pleased that he kept control of the round and remains in contention for a maiden European Tour title. The front nine was a rollercoaster ride of red and blue numbers. He birdied 1 and 4, but they sandwiched bogeys on 2 and 3. He then closed the outward stretch with another bogey on 9 that settled him two shots behind the new leader. Curiously nothing changed whatsoever in the following nine holes: both Pilkadaris and Chawrasia parred every single back nine hole.

The 42-year-old is a three-time winner on the Asian Tour, but it is over 11 years since he last lifted a trophy and he is yet to taste victory on the European Tour, but he’s in great shape to change that after a second round that defied the heat and tight playing conditions. There were no fewer than 9 birdies in his first 15 holes: firstly at 1 and 2, then a bunch at 6, 8, 9, 10 and 11. On 14 he nailed his approach to 8 feet and converted the birdie, on the next hole he chipped in for another. He did drop a shot on the par-5 final hole, but his 13-under leaves him perched high: 3 clear of Nacho Elvira, who was two clear of third. He told the Asian Tour website: “I felt really good and kept going at the flags.”