Goya finds his groove to move up leaderboard

Tano Goya

Tano Goya of Argentina moved into contention at the Ballantine’s Championship in Korea as the weather-delayed first round was completed on Friday (23 April).

Goya carded a six-under-par 66 at Pinx Golf Club on the island of Jeju to lie one stroke behind pacesetter Marcus Fraser of Australia.

At the same time, organisers announced that following Thursday's six-hour fog interruption the €2.2 million event would be reduced to 54 holes in order to ensure a Sunday finish.

Goya, who completed just two holes on Thursday before resuming on Friday morning, was pleased with his opening effort.

"It was a tough day because we started early and it was cold and windy," he said. "I was three under after four holes but hit a bad shot on No.5. It's a tough par three and I made bogey there.

"But after that I started to play really good. I think the key today was putting, I holed a long one on 17 and 18 as well. So I'm happy because it was a really good round."

Goya collected his maiden European Tour title at the Madeira Islands Open last year. His best finish so far this season was joint 23rd at last week's China Open.

His 66 on Friday gave him a share of second place with England's Mark Foster who, like Fraser (65), completed his first round on Thursday.

Welshman Rhys Davies, Robert Rock of England and Australia's Brett Rumford all returned five-under 67s on Friday for a share of fourth place with Korea's Ted Oh.

A group of 12 players were on four-under including PGA Tour star Anthony Kim and three-time Major winner Ernie Els, who both finished their first rounds on Thursday.

Meanwhile, co-tournament director John Paramor explained the reasoning behind the decision to reduce the tournament to 54 holes.

"Following the delays to the first round and after reviewing the amount of golf completed yesterday [Thursday], it's become clear that the completion of 72 holes within the required time frame isn't feasible," he said.

"Therefore, the decision has been taken to cut down to 54 holes. It's unfortunate, but we feel it's the best thing for the Ballantine's Championship and all of the players who are playing in it."

Paramor confirmed that extending the tournament to Monday was not a viable option because of the air travel logjam caused by the volcanic dust cloud over Europe.

"Everybody has heard about the problems for passengers who lose their original bookings and have their flights cancelled," he said. "It would be a disaster for some of these players if they were unable to get home."

The revised schedule means organisers plan to have the first two rounds completed by Saturday evening, when the cut will be made, paving the way for a final round shootout on Sunday.

The Ballantine's Championship is once again co-sanctioned by the European Tour, Asian Tour and Korea PGA.