Nov 08, 2019: Thailand’s Poom Pattaropong rode a hot putter to sign for a six-under-par 65 and grab a share of the lead with local amateur Natthaphat Harnchokchaiskul at the halfway stage of the Thailand Open on Friday.
Shiv Kapur scored a sizzling 63 to follow his first round 74 to surge inside the top ten on an eventful day at the Thailand Open. Ajeetesh Sandhu and SSP Chawrasia underscored the virtues of consistency scoring 67 each to climb into T3 at the halfway stage of this Asian Tour event.
The 24-year-old Poom, who came through the Asian Tour Qualifying School last December, nailed eight birdies against two bogeys to equal the two-day efforts of overnight leader Natthaphat (70) on eight-under-par 134 total at the Thai Country Club.
The leading duo holds a one-shot advantage over home favourite Prom Meesawat (67), Australia’s Andrew Martin (68), India’s Ajeetesh Sandhu (67) and S.S.P. Chawrasia (67) at the US$300,000 full-field Asian Tour event.
Newly crowned Asian Tour champion Suradit Yongcharoenchai of Thailand continued his fine form by carding a 68 to move within two shots off the lead. He sits in seventh place alongside countryman Charng-Tai Sudsom (68) and Chinese Taipei’s Wang Wei-hsuan (69) on 135.
- Shiv Kapur
India’s Shiv Kapur, who opened his campaign with a 74, took a great leap forward after creating a new course record on the par-71 set-up with his blistering round of 63.
The 37-year-old Kapur settled three shots off the pace in tied-10th position with a host of players which include American John Catlin (70) and Phachara Khongwatmai (72) of Thailand.
The halfway cut was set at one-over par 143 with 78 players, included three amateurs, progressing into the weekend rounds.
The Thailand Open marks the start of the Asian Tour’s 2019/20 Panasonic Swing, which is a ranking based on an aggregate point race that spans five events with the final top-three players chasing a share of a lucrative bonus pool.
Asian Tour Release
