On a day when scoring was marginally better than the first round, Khor Kheng Howe went to the top of the leaderboard of the first leg of the Professional Golf of Malaysia (PGM) Tour’s PGM-Development Qualifying School Circuit (PGM-DQSC)at Kinrara Golf Club in Puchong today.
A player with some experience on the PGM Tour proper, but without a top-60 finish last season that would have guaranteed him to a Tour card this term, Khor shot a second round even-par 71 to move into a one-stroke lead.
He was on two-over 144 with the slight advantage over a four-way tie for second, where amateur player Danial Durisic (71), M. Wafiyuddin Abd Manaf (73), Hamzimie Hamzah (74) and first round leader Zamri Sariff (75) were bunched on 145.
Another amateur in the field Mohd Afif Razif had a 73 and alone in sixth place on four-over146, one shot ahead of C.M. Chong, who came back with a 76 for a 147 total.
Another shot adrift on 148 were amateur Amir Nazrin Jailani who did a good job to come home with a 71 and P. Paramaswaran, who shot a 73.
Zamri, after his exploits with an opening round 70, said he played with a new ball today and could not effectively control the distance – thus he made the turn in seven-over.
“But I managed to adapt a little better over the back nine and was three-under for the homeward stretch,” he explained.
“Tomorrow I’ll probably go back to the ball I used previously and see what happens. Of course, my game plan is the same – keep it on the fairway and hit the greens. If I can do that I think I have a chance here,” he said.
The Qualifying School, which has been renamed the PGM Development Tour, is the feeder circuit of the PGM Tour proper, from where the successful players are rewarded with playing cards.
Leading Second Round Scores
144 Khor Kheng Howe 73-71
145 Danial Durisic (A) 74-71, M. Wafiyuddin Abd Manaf 72-73, Hamzimie Hamzah 71-74, Zamri Sariff 70-75
146 Mohd Afif Razif (A) 73-73
147 C. M. Chong 71-76,
148 Amir Nazrin Jailani (A) 77-71, P. Paramaswaran 75-73
149 Razli Yahya 75-74
150 Daeng Abdul Rahman (A) 78-72
152 Mohd Shanizam Mohagi 78-74, Juliusmal Nazaini (A) 76-76
153 Kiishaan Tharmalingam (A) 75-78, Ahmad Zahir Abd Ghani (A) 72-81
