Puchong: R. Nachimuthu did not allow a rain interruption to hinder his concentration as he moved to the top of the leaderboard at the halfway stage of the Professional Golf of Malaysia (PGM) Kinrara Championship on Tuesday.

The seasoned player, who has notched two runner-up finishes in his last three starts, carded a six-under 66 to climb into pole position on nine-under 135 at Kinrara Golf Club.

It gave him a single stroke advantage over Shaaban Hussin, who himself had a good day at the office, firing a 69. Arie Irawan was a further shot back in third with a 67 while the quartet of Khor Kheng Hwai (67), Sukree Othman (68), Iain Steel (68) and S. Sivachandhran (66), were tied for fourth on four-under 138.

Nachimuthu, who won the season-ending Maybank Tour Players Championship title last December and finished runner-up on the Order of Merit, said he was happy to have buried a few putts that made the difference.

“I have been striking the ball well for a while and played well in the last few tournaments. But I haven’t been putting that good, however, today I did manage to sink a few putts and that really helped,” said the halfway stage leader.

“The course is in good condition, but we hope the rain today will not adversely affect it,” he added.

Leading first round scores
135 – R. Nachimuthu 69-66
136 – Shaaban Hussin 67-69
137 – Arie Irawan 70-67
138 – Khor Kheng Hwai 71-67, Sukree Othman 70-68, Iain Steel 70-68, S. Siva Chandhran 72-66
140 – Mohd Hafiz Mohd Said 73-67, Nicholas Fung 71-69, Rashid Ismail 68-72
141 – A. Sasar 65-76, Danny Chia 73-68, Airil Rizman 73-68