Malaysia’s Iain Steel fired a steady six-under-par 66 and grabbed the second round lead at the Pertamina Indonesia President Invitational yesterday.
Steel, with two top-10 finishes this season, tackled the tricky conditions at the Damai Indah Golf and Country Club for a nine-under-par 135 total.
Filipino Mars Pucay was one behind after carding the lowest round of the day with a 65 to lie joint second with Lin Wen-tang of Taiwan, who was even-par for the day, and Thailand’s Thaworn Wiratchant who shot 69.
Lin had led the opening round before play was suspended on Thursday due to lightning. A total of 15 players had returned early yesterday to complete their opening rounds.
But it was Steel who took charge on the second day, playing a bogey-free round with six birdies.
“I haven’t been playing well all year but in the last two tournaments I finished strongly and this week again I’m playing steady,” Steel said.
“This is my third straight bogey-free round [including the final round at Brunei Open last week] and it’s been a good run for me,” he said.
Pucay, 38, charged up the leaderboard thanks to a solid start with birdies in the first four holes before closing in with a strong 65.
“After more than 12 years, it was only last year when I decided to adopt an aggressive approach and it’s paying off now,” he said.
After a 64 in the opening round, Lin, who won the Asian Tour International title in Thailand in March, battled windy conditions on the way to a 72 yesterday.
“The wind was unpredictable today. It proved costly especially with my shots off the tee,” Lin said.
“I’m satisfied but I’m not too happy with how I was driving the ball today,” he said.
Former Asian Tour number one Thaworn is eyeing his second title this season and remained in contention after a round of 69.
Shohei Ohtani on Wednesday homered for the fifth consecutive game, tying a Los Angeles Dodgers franchise record. Yankees star Aaron Judge was the last player to homer in five consecutive games, accomplishing that feat last year. Ohtani, who leads the National League with 37 home runs, homered in the first inning off Minnesota Twins starter Chris Paddack. He hit a slow curveball 134m to center. He carried the bat midway down the first-base line and then did a bat flip. He did not hit a home run later in the game with the Dodgers trailing, but his presence was felt. With two outs
The 2025 International Federation of Bodybuilding and Fitness (IFBB) Mr Universe Chinese Taipei competition began yesterday at Xinzhuang Gymnasium in New Taipei City, with more than 150 athletes showcasing their physiques. It is the first time in 16 years that the IFBB has held a competition in Taiwan, the last being the 2009 World Games in Kaohsiung. The professional bodybuilding contest is bringing together athletes from Taiwan and 16 other countries, including Malaysia, Japan, the US, France and Mexico. IFBB Chinese Taipei president Hsu An-chin said in an interview yesterday that the event came to Taiwan thanks to his lobbying efforts at last
US top seed Taylor Fritz dropped an early yesterday morning marathon to Alejandro Davidovich-Fokina of Spain, while the UK’s Emma Raducanu and Canada’s Leylah Fernandez reached the semi-finals of the ATP and WTA DC Open. World number four Fritz, two points from victory in the ninth game, dropped the last five games in falling to the 26th-ranked Spaniard 7-6 (7/3), 3-6, 7-5 after three hours and five minutes in a match ending just before 2am. Davidovich-Fokina advanced to the semi-final against US fourth seed Ben Shelton, who beat sixth-seeded hometown hero Frances Tiafoe 7-6 (7/2), 6-4. Fritz, who had 20 aces and six
Ben O’Connor won Thursday’s monster Alpine stage to the ski resort of Courchevel as three-time Tour de France champion Tadej Pogacar responded to attacks from Jonas Vingegaard and dropped him to cement his grip on the yellow jersey. With just three stages left before the race ends in Paris, Pogacar looks poised to retain his title, with a comfortable lead of more than 4 minutes over Vingegaard, a two-time champion. Stage 18 featured three extremely difficult ascents, including the 26.4km climb of the Col de La Loze to the finish. At 2,304m, La Loze is the highest summit in this year’s Tour. Two
RSS