In form: Kyle Michel at The National Tournament. Photo: Dan Pockett/PGA Australia.
Kyle Michel has continued his stellar form at The National Tournament through round two of play, posting a five-under 67 to remain atop the table.
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Although a number of competitors remained out on The National GC (Moonah) course at the time of writing, Michel’s 13-under was enough for a five-shot lead ahead of a chasing trio at eight-under.
While it was his putter catching fire which had Michel posting an almost course-record (and eight-under) 64 on Thursday, his approach game is what held him in good stead on Friday in tricky conditions.
“My strategy this week is just to keep the ball in play,” Michel told pga.org.au after play.
“You get a lot of run around here so just trying to take a little bit off driver and make sure you're in the fairway. The par five’s on the front nine are pretty gettable the way the wind's been blowing so far this week.
"The ones into the wind, today was just hitting a couple of really good wedge shots and giving myself a look from 10-feet or something like that.
"It's not really a strategy, when it's this windy around here you need to take advantage of the par five’s.“
Michel has also been pleased with his control - and not only at this tournament.
“I feel like I've played pretty well for pretty much the whole season,” he said.
“I feel like I've played pretty solid and my ball-striking has just gotten better and better throughout the year.
“Growing up and playing a lot of tournaments down here and along the Peninsula, it is like a heavier wind down here. It hits it more than anywhere else and you've just got to trust it.
“It's not easy sometimes when you get down in little gullies where you actually can't feel the wind but you just have to trust it and just accept that some shots are going to get taken by the wind and some aren't going to get hit by them.
“It's just the acceptance because it's so tough that everyone's going through the same thing.”
As always, Michel also highlighted the groundswell of support he feels from back home.
“People in Shepparton, they love their golf,” he said.
“We've got a good heritage with golfers coming from Shepparton obviously with Jarrod (Lyle).
“I've got a great support base there and they love following what I do.”
Round three and four of The National Tournament will be shown on Foxtel and Kayo, with Saturday’s action set to take place from 4-7pm and Sunday’s from 2-7pm.
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