Thailand pads lead; RP bets recover
By Roy Luarca
The Philippines rebounded from last to joint third with a 218 but fell farther behind Thailand, which stretched its lead to six shots over Singapore after a 215 halfway through the Putra Cup at The Country Club course in Laguna Wednesday.
Portly Kiradech Aphibarnrat, whose 73 failed to count for Thailand’s first round output of 212, took charge for the Thais this time, coming home with two birdies in the last five holes to turn in the tournament-best score of two-under 68.
With Varan Israbhakdi and first round top scorer Varut Chomchalam putting in 71 and 76, respectively, the Thais, priming up for the SEA Games at their turf next month, pooled a 215 for a 36-hole aggregate of 427.
That was six strokes ahead of Singapore, which assembled a 216 as top player Quincy Quek matched par 70 and Zhiqun Lam and Dengshan Kok carded a pair of 73s for a 433.
The RP bets, who had a disappointing 222 in the opener at home course, recovered a bit with a 218 which should’ve been a 217 if not for Jhonnel Ababa’s error in his scorecard.
Ababa birdied the par-4 13th but put in a 4 in his scorecard instead of a 3, which his scorer had earlier entered. He wound up with a 74 instead of a 73, which counted for the team.
Mark Fernando fired two birdies in the first seven holes in a fine start but dropped two strokes on No. 9 before a bogey-mishap on No. 10 gave him a one-over 71 for RP’s best score after two rounds of play in the
Southeast Asian Amateur Golf Team Championship conducted by the National Golf Association of the Phils.
Jay Bayron continued to struggle with a 73 marred by a double-bogey and three bogeys against two birdies while Ferdie Aunzo dropped five strokes in a three-hole stretch from No. 14, including a triple-bogey seven on the 15th, and didn’t count with a five-over 75.
Malaysia, behind Hazig Hamizan’s 72 and the two 73s by Edmund Au and Akhmal Tarmizee, matched RP’s output for the second straight day as they moved up to joint third at 440 but fell 13 shots adrift.
Aphibarnrat also took the lead in the individual competition with a 141, one shot ahead of Israbhakdi while Fernando jumped from 12th to joint fifth with a 145 in a tie with Chomchalam, one stroke behind the fourth-running Singaporean pair of Quek and Lam.
Indonesia shot a second straight 221 and slid to fifth with a 442 while Hong Kong, which made an impressive 217 in the first round of the event sponsored by Philippine Airlines, Pagcor, Dept. of Tourism, Hanjin Heavy Industries and the Philippine Sports Commission, limped home with a 231 and dropped to last in the lean six-team field with a 448.
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