Hong Kong, Oct 31 (IANS) Northern Ireland’s Tom McKibbin added a five-under-par 65 to his opening round 60 for a two-shot lead in the Hong Kong Open on Friday. The LIV Golf star leads on 15-under here at Hong Kong Golf Club from second-placed American Peter Uihlein, Thailand’s Kiradech Aphibarnrat, and Jazz Janewattananond.
Uihlein shot a 63, which included a triple bogey on his penultimate hole; Kiradech carded a 65 and Jazz a 66. Anirban Lahiri sits well placed in T15 on nine under, six off the lead after a four-under 66. The Crushers GC player burst into life with five birdies and a bogey in his last seven holes, in an incredible stretch after 11 straight pars.
He could not hide his frustration at his putting over the first two days, as he said: “That stretch followed 11 two-putts for 11 pars and seven of those were inside 15 feet. I just couldn’t make a thing, and then finally some putts started going in. “I struggled even yesterday – 31 putts for five under. I missed four greens in 2 days, so I am really happy with my form. I just have to try and keep calm and go back to find my putting rhythm and go back to the things I do that make me a good putter.”
Talking about his efforts to win and claim tickets to the Masters and The Open, he said: “100%, the Hong Kong Open is a very prestigious event with a lot of history but when you tack on those two very very precious tickets, to have that opportunity amidst this competition is a great opportunity and it is definitely something that will motivate me. One thing you will notice is the guys pushing all out for a win rather than second or third, as to many of us, it matters more to get into the majors; it means more than anything else.”
SSP Chawrasia (67) is on seven under, and Ajeetesh Sandhu is a shot further back (68) going into moving day, but Shiv Kapur, Jeev Milkha Singh, and Gaganjeet Bhullar all missed the cut. American Charles Howell III, in with a 62, and Louis Oosthuizen from South Africa and Thomas Pieters from Belgium, who both shot 66s, are a shot further back.
McKibbin, who plays for Legion XIII on LIV Golf, captained by Spaniard Jon Rahm, was bogey-free again on Friday and looks like he will be hard to beat this weekend.
“Very, very solid day,” said the 22-year-old, whose 60 yesterday set a new course record. “Game played very, very similar to yesterday. Just didn’t hole us as many putts. But yeah, very happy to keep the bogeys off the card.”
He has won once before on the European Tour, two years ago, and is chasing his first title on the Asian Tour and The International Series.
He added, “Hopefully, very similar stuff [over the weekend] would be nice. Think I’ve sort of taken the approach going into this week, just to sort of play very aggressively and sort of just whatever the outcome is, come the end of the week, it is what it is. And I think maybe I’ll just keep doing that. And, you know, I’ve had quite a nice year. So why not just go for it?”
He made two birdies on the front and three in a row on the second half.
Uihlein, chasing his third title on The International Series following two wins last year, made nine birdies today before disaster on the par-four ninth, his 17th as he started on 11. “I blocked it,” he said about the ninth, which he followed with a birdie. “Then chipped it through the fairway. Fatted it. Fatted it. Next one I wasn’t gonna fat it right?”
He’d cruised through his first nine in six under, with four consecutive birdies from 12, and was running away with it before his unexpected finish.
Despite threatening to equal or break McKibbin’s course record, he added, “I hit it awful. Absolutely. Hit it terribly. Oh, it was awful. I didn’t hit a fairway until 18, and then I was in the middle of a divot, and then my next fairway I hit was on four and just had a clod of mud. I drove it badly. So, no, there were no thoughts of anything like that [course record], it was survival.”
He won The International Series events first in England and then in Qatar last year, for his first successes on the Asian Tour. He claimed the first by seven and the next by five and will doubtless be amongst it again this weekend.
“Yesterday, hit it great,” he added. “I think today was just – I mean, it’s not even 12 o’clock, right? So, it’s still early in the morning, right? It’s just one of those things. I just didn’t hit it very well today, but hit it great yesterday. You know, I’m sure I’ll be a couple back or so going on the weekend, so we’ll see.”
Kiradech, the Asian Tour Order of Merit champion in 2013, made an eagle, six birdies, and three bogeys.
The Hong Kong Open is the seventh of nine elevated tournaments on the Asian Tour calendar that offer a pathway to the LIV Golf League for the end-of-season Rankings champion.
–IANS
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