Sep 21, 2018: Hiroshi Iwata of Japan battled to a two-under-par 69 in persistent rain to seize the halfway lead at the Asia-Pacific Diamond Cup on Friday. of India tied for ninth place in the second round after scoring one-over-par 72.
Bhullar slipped three spots on the leaderboard from first round T6 to T9 and trailing by five shots behind the lead at three-under-par total. Other Indian Ajeetesh Sandhu lying at T23 after scoring similar one-over-par 72 along with Bhullar in the second round.
The rainy conditions made it tricky for players on day two but Iwata stood firm as he led on eight-under-par 134 at the JP¥150 million (approximately US$1.35 million) event sanctioned by the Asian Tour and Japan Golf Tour Organization.
EurAsia Cup star Yuta Ikeda, who has won 19 titles in Japan, fired the second round’s low score of 66 to trail Iwata by one shot at the Musashi Country Club, Sasai course.
The big-hitting Kurt Kitayama of the United States grinded to a hard-fought 71 to sit in tied third place alongside Kenichi Kuboya (70) and Yuki Inamori (72) on 137s.
After dropping his first shot of the tournament on hole 14, former PGA Tour player Iwata bounced back superbly with three straight birdies to hold a narrow edge over a fast-charging Ikeda.
Currently placed 98th on the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR), Ikeda lived up to his billing as the second highest ranked player in the elite field when he fired three birdies in each half against a single bogey.
Tour rookie Kitayama kept up his chase for a first Asian Tour victory after struggling off the tees where he found eight out of 14 fairways. He returned with four birdies against three bogeys to give himself a fight chance on the weekend.
A total of 66 players made the cut which was set at two-over-par 144.
Asian Tour Release
