Oct 27, 2017: Thai hotshot Panuphol Pittayarat put himself in position for a breakthrough win after carding a seven-under-par 65 to grab the halfway lead by two shots at the US$300,000 Indonesia Open on Friday.
India’s Udayan Mane carded two-under 70 with five birdies, with a bogie and a double bogie to tie at T13. In-form Gaganjeet Bhullar had a rough day with three birdies and four bogies to finish with one-over 73. He slipped from overnight second place to tied 19th by loosing 17 spots on leaderboard.
Another Indian Khalin Joshi also joined Bhullar to share tied 19th position after carding three-under-par 69. With his balanced play Khalin scored three birdies with a lone bogie to finish at T19. Khalin made 12 spot adjustment on leaderboard by moving from first round T31 to T19.
The 24-year-old Panuphol, who enjoyed a joint runner-up finish last year, fired nine birdies against two bogeys to sit atop the leaderboard on 11-under-par 133 total at the Pondok Indah Golf course.
Thailand’s Namchok Tantipokhakul returned with a 66 to take second place while countrymen Rattanon Wannasrichan (66) and Tirawat Kaewsiribandit (68) shared third with Australian Martin Andrew (65) on 136.
Panuphol, who started the round two shots back, dropped a shot on the second hole but bounced back brilliantly with four birdies to turn in 33. He picked up five more birdies on his way home, including three consecutive ones from 15, before dropping another shot on the last.
“I had a good round today. I just stuck to my routine. I didn’t really have a good start because I three-putted my second hole and made bogey. But I kept smiling and I kept hitting the greens and moved on from that hole”, said Pittayarat.
Play was suspended at 3.42pm local time due to lightning threats before resuming about an hour later. It was later abandoned for the day at 5.25pm due to fading light.
A total of 14 players will return at 6.30am on Saturday to resume their second round with the third round slated to start not earlier than 8.00am.
The halfway cut is projected to be at one-over-par 145 with the top 65 and ties progressing into the final two rounds.
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