BRITISH Open champion John Daly finally mastered the tight layout at The Vines as Australian Wayne Smith grabbed a three shot lead at the halfway stage of the Heineken Classic in Perth yesterday.
Daly, who missed the cut by nine shots last year after opening with a horrendous 80, fired a five under 67 to lift himself within four shots of the leader.
Dubliner Paul McGinley kept up his recent run of good form with a second round 68 to leave him in joint second place with Scotland's Dean Robertson who fired a five under 67. McGinley, however, was not the only Irishman to survive the cut Darren Clarke scraped through by one shot after his round of 71.
Not so lucky was Ronan Rafferty who, despite his one under par 71, missed the cut by one shot and will not be playing this weekend. Raymond Burns will also have two days off following his 74 yesterday.
For the second day running, Daly left his driver in the bag in favour of his one iron as he moved to six under. "I really feel like I have redeemed myself for last year and I'm very happy about that," said Daly, who suffered because of his waywardness off the tee in 1995 on a course that rewards accuracy ahead of distance.
Smith, who shared the overnight lead with New Zealander Greg Turner on six under, pulled clear of the field on 10 under after a composed 68 as temperatures soared to 37 degrees Celsius.
"The key here is putting the ball in the right place rather than power. I'm not the longest hitter but my greatest strength is controlling the ball," said Smith, runner up in 1994 and 1995.
Daly, who began the day on one under, transformed his fortunes with a run of five birdies in seven holes, foregoing distance to stay within the bounds of The Vines' narrow fairways.
"This is the first time in my entire life that I have hit irons on every hole for two rounds. I was only tempted to use the driver once but I thought better of it. Over the past year I've started hitting a lot more one irons off the tee but I'm still being aggressive in my approach. It's not conservative, it's just smarter," Daly said.
World number one Greg Norman recovered ground with a 68, including five birdies and one bogey, on his way to a three under total of 141 after a disappointing 73 on Thursday.
Ian Woosnam, who complained bitterly after being detained on the course for more than five hours on Thursday, was given an official warning for slow play during his second round.
"They were just having a go it's not something to get too worried about," said Woosnam, who scored 71 for a total of 140.
Defending champion Robert Allenby of Australia finished the day on one under to survive the cut by one shot while Turner" tumbled off the leaderboard with a disappointing 74.
