Forsyth saga set to continue

Alastair Forsyth was today almost certain to maintain his 100% record on the European Tour this season – but the Scot has his sights set much higher.

Forsyth has made the halfway cut in all 10 of the events he has played so far, and a first round 67 at the Wales Open made him odds-on to extend that sequence to 11 in a row this afternoon.

However, while many of his fellow players would give their right arm for such consistency, the 27-year-old from Paisley is increasingly frustrated at garnering just one top-10 finish for all his hard work.

Forsyth, who won the Malaysian Open last year to regain the tour card lost at the end of 2001, said: “It has been frustrating, particularly at the start of the year when I felt I was playing well week-in, week-out but I always seemed to have one bad day when nothing went my way.

“No matter what I did I always seemed to shoot 72 or 73 and that blows my chance of getting in contention.

"It is frustrating as I look at the leaderboard and think I could have been up there without doing much better.

“As I feel I am improving, I feel that is something I have to do more. I think the top 10 on the Order of Merit is beyond me at the moment but I’m looking at the world rankings.

“I have never featured anywhere but through the summer in the big events there is the chance to move up. I think the top 100 would be realistic and Garrido shows what can be done if you pick the right week.”

That was a reference to Spain’s Ignacio Garrido, a surprise winner of last week’s Volvo PGA championship and one of several players to give this week’s event a miss despite a prize fund of £1.5m (€2.086m) and first prize of £250,000 (€347,000).

Only two members of the world’s top 50 are competing, Kiwi Michael Campbell (43rd) showing signs of a welcome return to form with a 69 but Colin Montgomerie (21st), managing only a 73.

England’s Ian Poulter and Nick O’Hern shared the lead going into the second round after carding rounds of 65, equalling the course record.

O’Hern has also made the cut in all seven events he has played this season, while Poulter has been changing his swing under the guidance of coach David Leadbetter to try to achieve similar consistency.

“I knew it was going to take a little time so hopefully this is the time,” said Poulter, who has missed the halfway cut in five of his last six events but battled a bout of tonsillitis to set the early target matched later in the day by left-hander O’Hern.

“I needed to try to change a few things in my game to be more consistent. I’ve always missed a few greens even when I was playing great so if I can tighten up those bad shots then I’ll have more chances and hopefully be winning more golf tournaments.

“With the other guys like Justin Rose and Paul Casey doing well, and knowing when I’m on top of my game I can beat them, it is frustrating, but I think it will be a good move in the long run.

“Obviously the Ryder Cup is next year and hopefully being a more consistent golfer will put me in the picture for that.”