Kangar (PERLIS): Abel Tam preserved his slim advantage at the halfway stage of the Professional Golf of Malaysia (PGM) Perlis Closed Championship at Putra Golf Club on Thursday.
The 22-year-old Johor lad shot an even-par 72 for a three-under 141 overall to stay one clear of former Asian Tour winners Ben Leong (68) and local boy Airil Rizman Zahari (71). Money list leader R. Nachimuthu steadied the ship with a two-under 70 to lie a further stroke back in jointh fourth alongside Jeremiah Kim Leun Kwang (73).
Even-par for the event after two rounds were M. Sasidaran (70) and Wilson Choo (74), while Mohamad Rizal Amin (75) was one-over in eighth place.
On a difficult scoring day, Tam kept his game in check to stay ahead of the chasing pack in only his eighth start of the flourishing domestic circuit.
“I can be happy with that. It keeps me ahead on a day when it was quite obvious that it was going to be difficult to go lower, especially with the tough pin positions. I took a bit of time to settle into the paid ranks but I’ve been in these situations in the past and I can know it’s important to stay calm and take one round at a time,” said Tam.
In contrast, Leong said he did not find the course that “tough” and was also pleased with his performance today.”I just tried to stay relaxed and not worry too much about the course. But I did try hard to control the ball as best as possible, especially on Hole 12 where you need to spin the ball to get it in place without rolling downhill,” said the Sabahan.
“My game plan for tomorrow will be to stick to this strategy of playing controlled golf, and focusing as best as I can on each shot at a time.”
Leading Second Round Scores
141 – Abel Tam 69-72
142 – Ben Leong 74-68, Airil Rizman 71 -71
143 – R. Nachimuthu 73-70, Kim Leun Kwang 70-73
144 – M. Sasidaran 74-70, Wilson Choo 70-74
145 – Mohamad Rizal Amin 70-75
146 – Akhmal Tarmizee 75-71
147 – Dinata Abdillah 72-75
148 – Keegan Kam 73-75
149 – Lam Yu Shuen 76-73, Rahizam Ramli 75-74, Aizat Kasim 73-76
150 – Shaifubari Muda 78-72, S. Murthy 76-74
