Brad Burns has turned the Lincoln Place NSW Senior Open on its head with a stunning second-round 65 at Thurgoona Country Club this afternoon.
Burns’ leads by seven from Victorian Lucien Tinkler, with John Wade a shot further back in third. Peter Lonard and Peter Fowler are at four-under, while Peter O’Malley and Mike Harwood are tied for sixth at three-under.
The near gale force winds which buffeted the course for most of the day meant little to Burns who, with the help of a red-hot putter, muscled six birdies and an eagle out of Thurgoona layout.
In an indication of how tough the course played today, and how impressive Burn’s performance was, only five players in the 110 strong field managed to break par.
“I had a ball out there today,” Burns said. “I got off to a good start. I holed a 30-footer on the first hole, then holed a bunker shot on the fifth for eagle.”
The testing conditions this afternoon here at Thurgoona are familiar territory for Burns; he faced similar winds when he took out the Worrigee Legends Pro-am recently.
“I hat a win at Worrigee links about a week and a half ago, and it was blowing maybe 80-90 km/h then.”
“Out here felt like a gentle breeze compared to it,” he smiled.
Pressed about why he likes for playing in the wind, Burns half-joked that it all came down to his stature.
“I’m 5’4″ I suppose. I’m a little bit under the wind,” he laughed.
“I’ve always hit the ball quite low, so it doesn’t affect me much, but wind like that out there today, well it was up there.”
Burns said he didn’t see a 65 as a possibility when he teed off, given the turbulent conditions and the threat of lightning.
“I didn’t really, but I call these types of days a quiet mind day, and I’ve two in a row.
“The little man behind the brain didn’t talk too much, and I hit a few good shots.”
As quiet as his mind was, Burns was also unaware of how well he was faring until he saw the leaderboard behind the 18th green.
“I knew I was going alright but didn’t realise I was seven under.
I made bogey on seven, but birdied the next two, then made three in a row on the back,” he added.
Although a seven-shot lead looks insurmountable, Burns is not taking anything for granted.
“I’ve played club pro events and had similar leads. It’s pretty hard to play to.
“At seven ahead you’ve got to decide to keep on being aggressive or go for the middle fo the greens.”
“I’ll just have a couple of beers, some tea tonight and a good night’s sleep and see if I can do it again tomorrow.”