Taipei: Malaysia’s Khor Kheng Hwai overcame a leg cramp towards the tail end of his round to card a four-under-par 68 to take a share of the second round lead at the Yeangder Tournament Players Championship.

Chinese Taipei’s Chan Shih-chang had a closing eagle on the 18th hole to join Khor on top of the leaderboard with a two-day total of five-under-par 139 at the US$300,000 Asian Tour event.

Thailand’s Chapchai Nirat signed for a 71 for a tied-third place alongside Lu Wen-teh and Lin Keng-chi of Chinese Taipei on matching 140s at the Linkou International Golf Club.

Defending champion Thaworn Wiratchant of Thailand got his defence campaign back on track after he carded a 68 to stay two shots back of the leaders in equal sixth alongside Chinese Taipei’s Chen Hao-sen, Chiang Chen-chih and Phiippines’ Mar Pucay.

Khor hopes that he can finally go on to fulfill his true potential after another solid round where his only blemish was a bogey on the par-four second. “I’m pleasantly surprised with how I’ve played the last two rounds as I’ve been struggling with my game the whole year. But when I came out to play during the practice rounds, I started hitting the ball very well and it surprised me as well. With the scores after two days, I’m even more surprised,” said Khor.

The 26-year-old Malaysian turned professional in 2008 but has often relied on his country exemption status to earn playing opportunities on the Asian Tour. Having tasted little success since breaking into the play-for-play ranks, Khor is determined to shine this week. He displayed that resolute spirit despite having to endure a leg cramp with three holes to play.

“Up to the 15th hole, I got leg cramps but I managed to hold myself up Maybe it was the adrenaline or I was dehydrated as I was not drinking too much water on the golf course,” said Khor.

With a shot at glory beckoning for Khor when the weekend round begins, he hopes to stay focused for his career breakthrough on the Asian Tour. “I wouldn’t want to put too much pressure on myself but I’m going to treat this as a normal tournament like what I’ve been doing since I turned professional,” said the Malaysian.

Chan, who started the day in tied-32 after an opening 72, made his quick move up the leaderboard with three birdies in his opening four holes.

After reaching the turn in 33, he traded two bogeys against two birdies in his next five holes. A magical eagle-three on the par-five 18th then brought him back to the top for a share of the lead with Khor.

“Overall I’m happy with how I’ve played today. The eagle on the 18th was especially sweet as it’s always nice to see your name right at the top of the leaderboard,” said Chan.

Chapchai had a promising start after completing his back-nine flawlessly with three birdies on holes 11, 13 and 15. But as the winds began to pick up in his inward-nine, the three-time Asian Tour winner began to struggle. After two successive birdies on holes one and two, he dropped his first shot on the third hole, followed by a bogey-double-bogey-bogey run starting from the sixth hole.

The Thai managed to recover with another birdie on the closing par-four ninth to sign for a 71. “I was playing very well in the front-nine and it was actually going well after the turn as I made two more birdies then. But the winds got very strong after that and I had difficulty coping,” said Chapchai.

“You’ve got to be very accurate with your approach shots on this golf course as the greens are very hard. If you can get into a good position with your second shot, then it’ll be easier for birdie chances,” added the Thai.

The halfway cut was set at four-over with a total of 66 players making it into the weekend.

Leading second round scores
139 – Khor Kheng Hwai (MAS) 71-68, Chan Shih-chang (TPE) 72-67.
140 – Lu Wen-teh (TPE) 70-70, Chapchai Nirat (THA) 69-71, Lin Keng-chi (TPE) 70-70.
141 – Chen Hao-sen (TPE) 69-72, Chiang Chen-chih (TPE) 69-72, Mars Pucay (PHI) 70-71, Thaworn Wiratchant (THA) 73-68.
142 – David Gleeson (AUS) 69-73, Hsieh Tung-shu (TPE) 72-70, Lu Tze-shyan (TPE) 71-71.
143 – Zaw Moe (MYN) 72-71, Chen Chung-cheng (TPE) 70-73, Lu Wei-chih (TPE) 70-73, Lin Wen-hong (TPE) 74-69.
144 – Tsai Chi-huang (TPE) 72-72, Young Nam (KOR) 72-72, Matt Docking (AUS) 70-74, Namchok Tantipokhakul (THA) 69-75, Tim Stewart (AUS) 73-71, Lin Wen-tang (TPE) 70-74, Chan Yih-shin (TPE) 69-75, Wang Ter-chang (TPE) 71-73, Adam Groom (AUS) 71-73.
145 – Sung Mao-chang (TPE) 72-73, Thanyakon Khrongpha (THA) 75-70, Ben Leong (MAS) 76-69, Kunal Bhasin (AUS) 72-73, Hsieh Chin-sheng (TPE) 72-73.