Melbourne, Australia: Chinese Taipei’s C.T. Pan and Chan Shih-chang got superstitious at the ISPS HANDA World Cup of Golf on Friday and it paid off with a solid seven-under-par 65 in the fourball session.
After dropping three shots in their closing two holes in Thursday’s opening foursomes, the Chinese Taipei duo looked out of sorts early on at Kingston Heath Golf Club by dropping two bogeys in their opening three holes in the best ball format.
However, they fought back superbly by registering nine birdies over the remaining 15 holes which pushed them up to tied 10th place on five-under-par 139, some seven shots behind new leaders Denmark, represented by Soren Kjeldsen and Thorbjorn Olesen. The Danes carded a scintillating 60 for a three-shot lead into the weekend rounds.
Pan, who recently earned his PGA TOUR card, was delighted with the way he and Chan, a two-time Asian Tour champion this season, fought back. “It was great. I mean, we fought back well. We had a terrible start,” said the 25-year-old Pan, a former world amateur number one.
“My focus wasn't on, it wasn't sharp, so I think my partner did all the work in the first three holes. We made nine birdies on the last 15 holes and then we missed a couple here and there. We are really happy.”
Chan and Pan were determined to not stumble late in the day, as was the case on Thursday when they dropped a costly double bogey and bogey in their closing two holes.
“We are really superstitious,” said Pan. “On the 17 tee box yesterday we took out our jackets and we told ourselves not to do that today. I think that's a bad sign, so we fixed it. And we finished par, par today, missed a birdie putt on the last hole, so it was good, it was a good fix.”
Thailand’s Kiradech Aphibarnrat and Thongchai Jaidee also concluded the halfway stage in joint 10th position following a 66, with the latter rolling in a nice birdie on 18.
“We're a good team, but we missed a few putts,” said Thongchai, a three-time Asian Tour number one.
Kiradech felt he let the team down. “It's just been a disappointing day. I didn't strike the ball good, I missed a lot of putts and kind of struggled when he made a mistake. We got one bogey which in fourball, that’s a big mistake,” said the 27-year-old Thai.
“Thongchai was playing so well. He's getting a lot of chances and made big putts on 16 and the birdie on the last.”
Thongchai is confident they can reduce the seven-shot deficit in Saturday’s foursomes session, which is the tougher format. “Kiradech is going to come back tomorrow. He can make something,” he said.
Team India carded a 66 with Chawrasia playing the anchor when Chikkarangappa struggled early on. “I was supported by my partner because whenever I hit a bad shot or even when I'm not in play, he just kept telling me it's okay, it's all right, just stay in there,” said Chikkarangappa, who is making his debut in the prestigious team event.
Chawrasia is hopeful they will move up the leaderboard with a strong showing in the third round. “We are a few shots behind, but there are two days to go and on this course, anything can happen. We just have to play our own game,” said Chawrasia, who has won twice this season on the Asian Tour.
