Sports

Saturday July 11, 2009

Golf: Chih Bing, Attaphon in the lead but 67 players yet to finish their rounds

By LIM TEIK HUAT

SEREMBAN: Bad weather forced the second round of the RM400,000 Salcon Negri Masters to be suspen­ded at the Seremban Inter­national Golf Club yesterday.

Play was first suspended at 2pm due to heavy rain but resumed half an hour later.

Go in: Attaphon attemping a putt during the rain-hit second round of Salcon Negri Masters at the Seremban International Golf Club yesterday.

But the proceedings came to a complete halt at 5.15pm when thunderstorm and lighting forced the organisers to suspend the second round for safety reasons.

A total of 67 players have yet to complete their second round and will return at 7.30am today to determine the cut for the final rounds.

And the stoppage may very well turn out to be a blessing in disguise for Malaysian hopefuls Danny Chia and Airil Rizman Zahari who, along with Mardan Mamat of Singapore and defending champion Benjie Magada of the Philippines, are among the challengers looking to make their way onto the leaderboard.

Overnight leader Lam Chih Bing, who teed off in the morning session, managed to finish his round and keep his lead at the top of the board.

The Singaporean fired a three-under 69 that included six birdies – at the first, second, third, seventh, 11th and 13th – and three bogeys – on the eighth, ninth and 14th holes – to finish at 10-under 134.

“I did not play as well as yesterday (Thursday) although I made six birdies today (yesterday).

“I could have gone lower had I managed to avoid the three bogeys,” said Chih Bing, who was a runner-up at the Heritage Malacca Classic of the Asean Tour last month.

Joining the Singaporean at the top is Thailand’s P. Attaphon, who carded a second successive five-under 67.

Attaphon, who is looking for his first win this season, had a near-flawless day with five birdies at the sixth, eighth, 14th, 16th and 18th.

“I’m satisfied with my game today. A five-under 67 is good enough,” said Attaphon, whose previous win in Malaysia came at the Genting Masters in 2004.

“Some players complained about the tricky greens but my putting has been perfect these two days.”

South Korean Kim Young-jin trailed the leaders a single stroke after carding a six-under 66 for a two-day score of 135.

Thailand’s Thaworn Wiratchant is three behind the leaders with a seven-under 137.

Of the Malaysian players who completed their second round, rookie professional Akhmal Tarmizee and veteran P. Gunasegaran were the best after shooting identical two-under 142s.

Still in the mix are Ben Leong (143), Mohd Rashid Ismail (143), Mohd Sukree Othman (144), Mohd Shaaban Hussin (144) and Shaifubari Muda(144).

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