Kuala Lumpur: There was no silver lining to be found for the Malaysian Angels as they failed to impose themselves on a tough moving day at the Sime Darby LPGA Malaysia on Saturday.
The nation’s top professional, Kelly Tan returned with her second consecutive even-par 71 at the East Course of Kuala Lumpur Golf & Country Club to remain on three-over 216 overall, sharing 55th placing with South Korea’s Ji Young Oh.
Things however went downhill for rookie professional Michelle Koh, who slid down the leaderboard with a round of seven-over 78, after incurring a costly two-stroke penalty for accepting a buggy ride as she tried to catch up with her flightmates after a washroom break on the ninth.
Aretha Pan Herng and Ainil Johani Abu Bakar carded matching five-over 76s while there was no respite for the pair of Michele Low (80) and Jean Chua (77) as they remained rooted at the bottom of the table.
Kelly overcame an opening bogey to make the turn on one-under but fell victim to a pair of soft bogeys early through the back nine to remain the leading Malaysian in the contest.
“I didn’t get off to a start that I wanted and it took a while to settle in. Struggled with my shot placement all day and it didn’t help that I left my putts short many times despite giving myself scoring opportunities.
“I got really frustrated out there today. I was probably taking it a bit too seriously and it wasn’t helping. My game plan was a little too aggressive, firing at almost every pin but they were really tucked at the corners today,” said Kelly, adding that she was still trying to be more relaxed on the golf course.
She disagreed that the occasion has gotten to her head, accepting that it was all part of the job. “I have to face the fact. I’m a professional and everybody is going to look up to me: ” Oh, this girl plays on the LPGA Tour, so she must be good”. A little pressure is okay but I still got to go out there and play my own game. I expected myself to do better and I intend to do just that tomorrow,” shared the 21-year-old Johorean.
