Selangor, Malaysia: Anirban Lahiri carded three-under 68 to lie tied sixth after the second round at the Worldwide Holdings Selangor Masters here on Friday.
Lahiri, starting from the 10th, was on fire on the first nine with six birdies and no bogeys. But on the second nine, he gave away two bogeys and a double bogey on the fifth.
Abhinav Lohan was again par in second round and is now tied 10th. Two other Indians, Abhijit Chadha (74-73) and C Muniyappa (73-74) also made the cut.
Meanwhile, Pariya Junhasavasdikul of Thailand sank two eagles for a battling three-under-par 68 to maintain his overnight one-shot lead over close friend Baek Seuk-hyun of Korea at the halfway stage.
Pariya and Baek will temporarily set aside their friendship as they head into the weekend rounds at the ultra-demanding Seri Selangor Golf Club, with the former searching for his second Asian Tour title and the latter shooting for a breakthrough win.
Superb eagles on the sixth and 13th holes from 12 and eight feet respectively kept the dashing Pariya ahead of the chasing pack on eight-under-par 134 in the RM1.2 million (approximately US$400,000) tournament.
The burly Baek fought hard for his 68 on a crusty Seri Selangor course which saw only nine players ending with red figures at the conclusion of the second round.
Talented 19-year-old Malaysian amateur Gavin Green carded a 69 for third place on 137, three shots off the lead while Australia’s Wade Ormsby, winner of the Panasonic Open India in April, continued his impressive form with a 70 to trail Pariya by four shots.
On another tough scoring day, Pariya was calm and collected despite dropping four shots on his outward 36. He maintained his composure and finished strongly with the eagle on 13, followed by a birdie at the next hole.
“Baek is practically my brother but tomorrow he is my competition. I’m not looking forward to doing anything more than what I’ve been doing these last two days,” said Pariya, winner of the 2010 Mercuries Taiwan Masters.
“I’m going to go out there and enjoy playing with Baek, and hopefully I can put some intimidation on him. It will be quite relaxed since I’m playing with him as we practice regularly together. It will be like a practice round but we will be taking care of our own business,” he added.
The burly Baek, who is ranked sixth on the Order of Merit courtesy of two top-five finishes, spectacularly holed out for eagle from the greenside bunker on the par-five fifth hole and was firmly in the driver’s seat before slipping back with late bogeys on 16 and 17.
“I didn’t expect to shoot this score. I wanted to make the cut because my game was bad after last week. I’m really happy that my game came back. Pariya is my roommate. It will be very comfortable to play with him. I need to be in the game and not let my mind wander,” said the 22-year-old Thai-based Baek.
Green extended his dream run at the Worldwide Holdings Selangor Masters, which is the 13th leg of the Asian Tour season, and is aiming to become only the fourth amateur winner on the Asian Tour. He also needs a good result this week to qualify for the U.S. Amateur Championship in August.
“It was fun out there even though I was grinding the whole day. I think this gives me a chance to do something tomorrow. I got overwhelmed when I got the double (16th hole) but after that, I kind of cooled off and then birdied the first and birdied five and once I got the eagle (on six), it was okay,” said the Malaysian, who is an undergraduate at the University of New Mexico.
Playing in his second season on the Asian Tour, Ormsby stayed within striking distance after carding a 70 which included three birdies against two bogeys.
“I’ve played good this year. I put myself in position many times. I’ve got the game under control, got the ball under control. It’s fun being out around the front. You have to be patient on the course, seeing what the scores are like. Just hit fairways and greens, the clichéd stuff. I’m driving it good which is important around here. I need to try to keep doing that,” said Ormsby.
Worldwide Holdings, a 100 per cent subsidiary of PKNS – the development arm of the state of Selangor – will title sponsor the Selangor Masters for the sixth successive year. The state-linked company has an impressive portfolio of businesses which include property development and investment, environmental management services and investment holding in Selangor.
The weekend rounds of the tournament will be telecast live on the Asian Tour’s global platform which reaches over 200 countries and 650 million homes.
Scores after round 2 of the Worldwide Holdings Selangor Masters 2013 being played at the par 71, 6927 Yards Kelab Golf Seri Selangor course (a- denotes amateur):
134 - Pariya JUNHASAVASDIKUL (THA) 66-68.
135 - BAEK Seuk-hyun (KOR) 67-68.
137 - Gavin GREEN (am, MAS) 68-69.
138 - Wade ORMSBY (AUS) 68-70.
139 - Peter GUSTAFSSON (SWE) 70-69.
141 - Anthony KANG (USA) 73-68, Thomas PETERSSON (SWE) 70-71, Anirban LAHIRI (IND) 73-68, Chawalit PLAPHOL (THA) 70-71.
142 - Abel TAM (am, MAS) 74-68, Shaaban HUSSIN (MAS) 73-69, Unho PARK (AUS) 72-70, Javi COLOMO (ESP) 74-68, Abhinav LOHAN (IND) 71-71, Thanyakon KHRONGPHA (THA) 75-67, Peter RICHARDSON (ENG) 69-73, LU Wen-teh (TPE) 70-72, Marcus BOTH (AUS) 73-69, Berry HENSON (USA) 74-68, Sam BRAZEL (AUS) 71-71.
143 - Chinnarat PHADUNGSIL (THA) 73-70, Mars PUCAY (PHI) 71-72, Richard T. LEE (CAN) 71-72, Antonio LASCUNA (PHI) 72-71, SIDDIKUR (BAN) 70-73, Scott HEND (AUS) 70-73, Stephen LEWTON (ENG) 73-70.