Ian Poulter closes in on Alex Cejka at Players Championship

Europeans have not had great success at The Players Championship, with Sandy Lyle, in 1987, and Sergio García, last year, the Continent’s only winners at what is considered to be the fifth most important strokeplay event in the world.
But men from Europe certainly caught the eye as this year’s event reached the halfway stage. Daniel Chopra, who has an Indian father and a Swedish mother and played in Europe for some years before moving to the United States, played nine holes yesterday in 26 strokes and briefly had a shot at equalling the course record of 63 before finishing with a seven-under-par 65. Ian Poulter moved to within two strokes of the lead, held by Alex Cejka, recording a 68 that left him at nine under, while Justin Rose got to six under before falling back to finish with a 71, three under par. A late rally by Luke Donald yielded a 70 and ensured that he joined Paul Casey (69) in qualifying for the weekend.
None, however, could match the performance of Cejka who was one of the first men to begin play on another stiflingly hot Florida day. He went round in 67 to set a mark of 133, 11 under par, and then sat back and watched as his total remained uncatchable throughout the day. With two rounds remaining, Cejka has his narrow lead over Poulter and is four strokes ahead of a group that includes Kevin Na, with whom he played and who also lives in Las Vegas, Henrik Stenson, the increasingly impressive Swedish golfer, David Toms, who is having something of a renaissance in tournament play this year, and Ángel Cabrera, the Masters champion.
There are not many more interesting men in golf than Cejka, who was born in Marienbad, Czechoslovakia, in 1970 before his father swept him up when he was 9 and the two of them fled communism and struck out for the West. There followed a journey worthy of a Hollywood film as they travelled through one country after another by bus, train, car, on foot and even swimming across the Rhine before they settled in Frankfurt, Germany, where, in time, young Alex discovered golf.
Cejka progressed quickly and soon was good enough to join the tour in Europe where, with his restless nature, his long hair tied at the back and his fast cars, he cut quite a dash. He had modest success there, winning a couple of tournaments, and getting close to a Ryder Cup team, but although this success was not enough to mark him out as a star in the way Bernhard Langer, his hero and mentor was, it was enough nevertheless to give him hope that he could cut it in the US.
So he was off again, this time to Boca Raton in Florida, where he first won his playing rights on the US tour in 2002 and then to Las Vegas, which seemed to suit his rather brash nature.
Cejka began at six under par, one stroke behind Ben Crane, the overnight leader, but quickly moved to ten under with accurate iron play and good putting. He was playing the golf of his life and there was no one watching him. For the second day, the number of spectators seemed far fewer than expected. “It was like a practice round on a Monday,” Cejka said.
Casey’s 69 was steady if unspectacular, the round of a man in form and he deserves to be five under par. Padraig Harrington’s 72, his second in a row, marked a return to steadiness for the three-times major champion.
Source:The times