Kota Kinabalu: Vietnam’s Michael Tran maintained his lead at the Sabah Masters despite carding a poor second round two-over 73 on Thursday.

The 24-year-old struggled with his flatstick all round but stayed two shots clear of veteran Filipino Frankie Minoza and the Thai pair of Sattaya Supupramai as well as Pipatpong Naewsuk.

Minoza, the event’s 1989 champion,and Pipatong carded 71s while Sattaya shot 72 at Sutera Harbour Golf and Country Club.

Tran fired a first round 65 with no bogies for a three shot lead and fortunately for the chasing pack made three bogies and one birdie today.

“It was tough to make putts today. I changed my routine for some reason on the greens and it back fired,” said Tran, who is chasing his first victory on the ASEAN PGA Tour at the US$75,000 season-ending championship.

“I have always been a strong hitter of the ball and today I actually hit the ball better than the first round but I was poor on the greens. It could have been worse today but I was patient and that is something I will need to be over the next two days,” added Tran.

This week marks the Vietnamese golfers’ first competitive tournament since the beginning of December and he arrived having not touched a golf club for two weeks.

“It’s nice to start my first tournament so well. I am hoping for a great year. Last year I moved back home so it meant I missed a bunch of events but this season I have a place in Bangkok which will be more convenient getting to events, ” said Tran, who learned to play the game when he was 13 at school in New Zealand.

Last June he led going into the final round of the PGM-ASEAN PGA Penang Classic. He eventually finished fourth for his best result on the regional circuit.

Minoza won this event by seven shots 25 years ago and made a strong move on the front side by going out in two under but made two bogies on the second nine.

The former Asian Tour number one, who spent much of his career playing in Japan where he claimed seven titles, is the oldest player in the field.

“The wind was up today so it made things more difficult for everyone. I am well placed and feeling comfortable and looking forward to the next two days,” said Minoza, a two-time winner of the Philippine Open.

Singapore’s Mardan Mamat (73) and Thailand’s Piya Swangarunporn (69) are three behind the leader with defending champion Antonio Lascuna (72) and Order of Merit leader Kwanchai Tannin (71) further back on 143.

Leading second round scores (Par 71):
138 – Michael Tran (VIE) 65-73
140 – Sattaya Supupramai (THA) 68-72, Frankie Minoza (PHI) 69-71, Pipatpong Naewsuk (THA) 69-71
141 – Mardan Mamat (SIN) Singapore 68-73, Piya Swangarunporn (THA) 72-69
142 – Kenneth De Silva 72-70, Mithun Perera (SRI) 70-72, Charles Hong (PHI) 70-72, Mhark Fernando (PHI) 68-74, Ben Leong 71-71