ARIE FAUZI survived the halfway cut at the Asian Tour Qualifying School Final Stage presented by Sports Authority of Thailand after battling to a second round seven-under 65 today.
The talented Malaysian was on the brink of missing the last two days after opening with a 74 but showed true grit to fight back with a two-day total of four-under 139 at the par-72 Imperial Lakeview Golf Club.
“I had to accept the fact that I shot a 74 (opening round). I had a tough draw and didn’t play good in the last nine holes. I told myself to stay positive and took advantage of a hot start,” said Arie, who was four-under after the opening three holes.
Currently tied in 20th position, Arie will need to muster another two solid rounds to avoid the disappointment of missing out on an Asian Tour card last year when he shot a final round 78 to finish outside the top-40 and ties.
“The experience at Qualifying School last year has made me better prepared for this year. My preparations have been really good. Today’s round really showed why I’m here and that I really want to earn my Tour card. Last year was a huge learning experience,” said Arie.
After his first round nightmare, the 2008 Malaysian Amateur Stroke Play Championship winner will return to the Springfield Royal Country Club for the last two days with a better game plan.
The halfway cut was set at one-under-par 142 with a total of 82 players qualifying for the last two rounds.
Arie will be the only Malaysian representation in the last two days as Rizal Amin (83rd), Abel Tam (102nd), Shaifubari Muda (173rd), Chien Tan (202nd), Nicholas Pua (225th), Sukree Othman (160th), S. Sivachandhran (206th), Keegan Kam (206th), Mohd Iylia Jamil (206th) and Daniel Ng (230th) missed the cut.
Leading second round scores
134: Jarin Todd (USA) 67-67, Paul Peterson (USA) 66-68
135: Seb Gros (Fra) 68-67, Nathan Holman (Aus) 63-72, Martin Rominger (Sui) 66-69
136: Nicholas Cullen (Aus) 69-67, Kunal Bhasin (Aus) 68-68, Max Smith (Eng) 70-66, Kenichi Kuboya (Jpn) 69-67
137: Stuart Anderson (Can) 67-70, Naomi Ohta (Jpn) 70-67, Wolmer Murillo (Ven) 72-65, Lam Chih Bing (Sin) 68-69, Craig Hinton (Eng) 68-69
138: Andrew Martin (Aus) 70-68, Ryan Yip (Can) 71-67, Kim Tae-Hoon (Kor) 71-67, Kalem Richardson (Aus) 71-67, Hu Mu (Chn) 68-70
