Sungai Petani: James Bowen of the United States continued his good form when he posted a seven-under-par 65 to take a share of the second round lead with Thailand’s Pavit Tangkamolprasert at the PGM Sime Darby Harvard Masters on Thursday.
The American posted a two-day total of 13-under-par 131 and is determined to play his way back into the main Tour after missing the cut at the Asian Tour Qualifying School Final Stage last month.
Pavit returned with the day’s lowest score of 63 to move atop the leaderboard after starting the day in tied-fifth while Chinese Taipei’s Hsieh Chi-hsien, a one-time Asian Development Tour (ADT) winner is three shots back in third place on 134.
Malaysia’s S. Sivachandhran, who won the ADT Order of Merit in 2010, traded seven birdies against a lone bogey to take equal fourth with Canada’s Lindsay Renolds and Thailand’s Jakraphan Premsirigorn on 135 at the RM200,000 (approximately US$65,000) tournament at Harvard Golf and Country Club.
After missing out on the opportunity to earn his Asian Tour card at Qualifying School, Bowen believes the best way to prove himself again would be to excel on the ADT.
“Coming from the United States, I heard a lot of good things about the Asian Development Tour and that’s why I decided to brave the long journey to come out here and compete,” said Bowen.
“I shot rounds of 71 and 76 and missed the cut in Q School. I’m trying to regain my confidence and play my way back into the Asian Tour again. Hopefully my performance over two rounds this week would allow me to do that,” said the American who hit 17 greens in regulation his opening round where he signed for a 66.
Siva remains the only Malaysian to have triumphed twice on the Asian Development Tour and the Sungai Petani native is delighted to have kept his title hopes alive.
“I drove the ball pretty solid and kept it in the fairway, which gave me the opportunity to attack the pins. I created a couple of good birdie chances and I was able to stroke the putts the way I wanted, so I’m pretty happy with the day’s work,” said the 33-year-old, whose otherwise flawless card was marred by a lone bogey on the par-five three.
With two runner-up finishes in his last three starts on the PGM Tour, Siva is hoping to go one better in his home town but admits that he has to remain focused and take it one shot at a time.
“Today’s performance definitely brought back the confidence and belief that I’m still able to play my best golf. I need such performances to lift my spirits but there’s still two more rounds to play,” added Siva, who won the 2010 Negeri Sembilan Masters Invitational and the 2011 PGM Melaka Classic.
Leading second round scores
131 – James Bowen (USA) 66-65, Pavit Tangkamolprasert (THA) 68-63
134 – Hsieh Chi-Hsien (TPE) 68-66
135 – Lindsay Renolds (CAN) 65-70, S. Sivachandhran 69-66, Jakraphan Premsirigorn (THA) 71-64
136 – Spencer Shishido (USA) 67-69
137 – Anthony Choat (AUS) 68-69, Akhmal Tarmizee Nazari 68-69, Zurie Harun 70-67, Zanie Boy Gialon (PHI) 71-66
