Shah Alam: Nicholas Fung and Lim Eng Seng were the best-placed Malaysians at the halfway stage of the Worldwide Holdings Selangor Masters on Thursday.
After a steady opening 69 yesterdat, Fung could only notch a second round of one-over 73 at Kota Permai Golf & Country Club to trail leaders Michael Tran and Thai stalwart Thaworn Wiratchant by seven strokes. Fung’s halfway effort of two-under 142 was matched by compatriot Lim, who posted a round of level-par 72 today.
Among the other Malaysians to join Fung and Lim in the final two rounds are Danny Chia, Airil Rizman Zahari, Shaaban Hussin as well as amateurs Abel Tam and Low Khai Jei, who were right on the mark with matching 36-hole totals of even-par 144.
Fung admitted that he has to go move up a gear tomorrow if he is to be realistic about a leaderboard position come Saturday.“The conditions were tougher than yesterday and I didn’t hit it as good. I hope I can shoot another 66 because that’s what I did last year. I’ll need to get my putter hot and I think I’ll have a chance at the title,” said the Sabahan.
But the day belonged to Tam – one of the four amateurs in the field this week – who narrowly avoided the halfway cut at the RM1.2m (approximately US$395,000) Asian Tour event thanks to a superb ace on the par-three 14th. The hole-in-one effort not only earned him a new Perodua Myvi but helped him steady the ship after two straight bogeys from the 12th.
“I was about to change my club but my caddy told me to go straight for it. I needed that hole-in-one because I dropped a couple of shots before that. I was still bit off but I finished the round pretty good,” said Tam.
“This is my first ever hole-in-one. I just turned 20 so I do have a license to drive! It means a lot to me to have a hole-in-one in an Asian Tour event,” he added.
The magical shot proved to be a bittersweet experience for the young Malaysian as his nerves started to fray down the stretch as he knew he was on the bubble of making the cut. “The nerves started to kick in after the ace because I knew I had a chance to make the cut,” he said.
