Taipei: Baek Seuk-hyun of Korea battled through swirling wind and rain for one-over-par 73 to share the halfway lead at the Mercuries Taiwan Masters on Friday.
Baek was tied with Filipino veteran Antonio Lascuna (73) and Chinese Taipei trio Wang Shih-jui (73), overnight leader Lien Chi-wei (77) and Tsai Chi-huang, the only player to break par with a 69 for one-under-par 143 at the US$600,000 Asian Tour event.
Chinese Taipei hero Lin Wen-tang, a five-time Asian Tour winner, Bangladeshi Siddikur, Malaysia’s Danny Chia and Kalle Samooja of Finland were a further shot back in tied sixth place.
The Taiwan Golf and Country Club was swept by sporadic showers in the morning but strong gust of wind with speeds of over 30 kilometres per hour continued for the whole day as Typhoon Jelawat is expected to hit the country on Friday evening.
Despite the testing conditions where a tree was uprooted, Baek managed to hang on and put himself in strong position of winning his first Asian Tour title.
“It wasn’t fun because is very windy and at any time, the wind can change direction,” said Baek, who shot four birdies against three bogeys and one double bogey.
“It was raining for like five minutes, then it stopped, then it rained again. I had a double bogey because of the rain and it was so cold,” he added.
The Korean endured a string of missed cuts earlier in the year but was rewarded with three top-10s after changing his swing and grip.
“Since I changed my grip and swing, I started to play better. I’m ready and confident for this tournament. I’m feeling very comfortable with my irons. My grip was really strong previously but I loosen it now,” said the 21-year-old.
Chia hopes to relive the winning memories of his victory in the 2002 Taiwan Open as he takes aim at a second Asian Tour win after his round of 72.
“It (wind) played a part for most of the day. Since I started teeing up, the wind was already blowing. It was even stronger on the back nine, to a point where my golf bag was on the floor and it flipped over!” said Chia.
“I felt that I could have done better. You still have a bit of chance to score here if you hit the ball low and run the ball up to the green. There’s a variety of ways to score on this golf course depending on the weather,” added Chia, the first Malaysian to play in all four rounds at the British Open in 2010.
Siddikur described his round as the ‘most difficult’ in his career but hopes to better his second place finish at the 2010 Mercuries Taiwan Masters.
“This is definitely one of the toughest conditions that I’ve played in my career. It was so difficult. It is even worst compared to 2010 but somehow I feel comfortable here because I grew up playing on a course like this,” said Siddikur, a former ball boy at the Kurmitola Golf Club in Bangladesh.
After losing his Asian Tour card last year, Samooja is hoping to take advantage of his limited Asian Tour appearances this season. The Finnish player traded three birdies against four bogeys and believes he is in good position for the weekend.
“This is my seventh event this year. I didn’t get to save my card last year so I only get to play in minimal events. I hope I can get my card for next year. That’s my main goal this year,” said Samooja.
“It was really tough. The wind got strong and it kept getting tougher out there. I was putting really well the whole day so that’s the key for my result. My ball striking was solid but nothing spectacular,” he added.
The halfway cut was set at six-over-par 150 with a total of 54 players making the weekend rounds.
By Indian Sports News Network