Queens: Chawrasia, Chiragh lying T13

Edited by Anand Datla

June 19, 2015: SSP Chawrasia was scarred on Thursday by a double bogey and three other bogeys during the first round. At two over, he had plenty of work just to ensure that he did not slip into another missed cut. The man from Kolkata responded in style to produce a four under 67 in the second round to leap ahead by 29 spots into T13 with a 2-under score of 140.

Chawrasia made seven birdies on the second day including a memorable hat-trick from the 15th to make a brilliant recovery on Friday at the Santiburi Samui Country Club.

Chiragh Kumar on the other hand failed to produce the magic that gripped him in the first round to lose ten spots after a meager 72 in the second round on this par-71 course.

Kumar suffered four bogeys in his first seven holes, before making a birdie at the par-5 8th hole. Fortunately for him he managed to make three birdies on the back nine to sign out with a one over score.

Thai star Prayad Marksaeng showed his class when he signed for a superb six-under-par 65 to seize the second round clubhouse lead by two shots at the weather-hit Queen’s Cup on Friday.

Khalin Joshi also inched up the leaderboard, with a steady 70 in the second round. He gained four spots to rest at T18 ahead of a promising weekend.

Marksaeng returned with a blemish-free round highlighted by six birdies to lead with a two-day total of eight-under-par 134 while Canadian Richard T. Lee, who signed for a 67, to settle for second place at the Santiburi Samui Country Club.

Overnight leader Atthaphon Sriboonkaew of Thailand (71) shared third place on 137 with defending champion and countryman Thaworn Wiratchant (68), as well as Akinori Tani of Japan, who is two-under-par with two more holes to play, at the US$300,000 Asian Tour event.

Tani will be one of the 31 players to return to the course at 6.40am on Saturday morning to resume their second rounds. Play was suspended at 3.45pm local time due to heavy rain before resuming two hours later. It was then abandoned for the day at 6.40pm due to fading light.

After ending his first round with three birdies, Prayad, who won the Queen’s Cup in 2013, picked up from where he left off by firing two straight opening birdies from the 10th hole and picked up four more birdies on 14th, 16th, fifth and sixth holes.

“I got off to a solid start. Before the round, I told myself it does not matter who is leading, as long as it’s a Thai player, I am ok with it. I didn’t expect myself to lead now but it’s always good coming back to play here. I like this course a lot and playing this week brings back a lot of memories from my win in 2013,” said Prayad, who sank a huge 30-footer birdie on the 10th.

Prayad blitzed the course with a hot putter for an impressive round which reminded him of his victory two years ago. “I putted so well. I made a couple of long putts. It’s always nice to come back here as it holds a lot of good memories for me. Hopefully I can keep the trophy on home soil this week,” added the 49-year-old Thai.

Atthaphon conceded that the pressure of being in the lead after his opening round has gotten to him but took comfort that he is still in the mix to battle for a career breakthrough victory.

“I didn’t want to give myself too much stress but after getting so many encouraging messages from my friends last night, I started to feel the pressure. I started well today actually. I was three-under through six holes but I lost focus. The rain delay helped me a bit as I got to cool down for a while,” said Atthaphon, who traded three birdies against three bogeys.

Thaworn remained confident in his bid for a record-breaking victory after capping a commendable round. “I played good today, given the tough conditions out there. I am happy with where I stand at the moment and I believe I still have the chance to break my own records this week,” said Thaworn, who holds an unprecedented 18 titles on the Asian Tour.

Scores after round 2 of the Queen’s Cup Samui Golf Tournament 2015 being played at the par 71, 6814 Yards Santiburi GCC course (am – denotes amateur):

134 – Prayad MARKSAENG (THA) 69-65.

136 – Richard T. LEE (CAN) 69-67.

137 – Atthaphon SRIBOONKAEW (THA) 66-71, Thaworn WIRATCHANT (THA) 69-68.

138 – Wolmer MURILLO (VEN) 72-66, Danny CHIA (MAS) 69-69.

139 – Siddikur RAHMAN (BAN) 69-70, Thanyakon KHRONGPHA (THA) 74-65, Jeunghun WANG (KOR) 68-71, Chinnarat PHADUNGSIL (THA) 68-71.

140 – Pannakorn UTHAIPAS (THA) 68-72, S.S.P. CHAWRASIA (IND) 73-67, Fumihiro EBINE (JPN) 69-71, Chiragh KUMAR (IND) 68-72.

141 – Tanutchan PUAKTES (THA) 72-69, Thitiphun CHUAYPRAKONG (THA) 71-70, Khalin JOSHI (IND) 71-70, Gunn CHAROENKUL (THA) 69-72.

142 – Settee PRAKONGVECH (THA) 68-74, Chan KIM (USA) 71-71, Phachara KHONGWATMAI (THA) 74-68, Miguel TABUENA (PHI) 73-69, Sattaya SUPUPRAMAI (THA) 74-68, Yoshinobu TSUKADA (JPN) 71-71.

143 – Shaun NORRIS (RSA) 71-72, CHAN Shih-chang (TPE) 73-70, Lindsay RENOLDS (CAN) 74-69, Sutijet KOORATANAPISAN (THA) 77-66, Rashid KHAN (IND) 73-70.

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Source: Asian Tour