Casey O’Toole of the United States and Janne Kaske of Finland shared the second round lead at the PGM MIDF KLGCC Championship which was reduced to 54 holes on Friday.
O’Toole, the current Asian Development Tour (ADT) Order of Merit leader, and Kaske fired a one-under-par 70 and 68 respectively to lead on seven-under-par 135 at the Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club East Course.
Raphael De Sousa of Switzerland charged into contention with a 67 to lie one-shot back while eight other players including Greg Moss of the United States, Chanat Sakulpolphaisan, who won last week, Masaru Takahashi of Japan and Malaysia’s Brandon Lau Ka Kin were a further two shots back from the leaders.
Bad weather forced officials at the RM200,000 (approximately US$50,000) ADT event to shorten the tournament which is the second last stop on the ADT schedule.
“Following several weather delays during the week, it has become clear that the completion of 72 holes within the required time frame is not feasible. Therefore officials and the sponsors have agreed that the tournament be decided over three rounds,” said Adnan Othman, the ADT Tournament Director.
Kaske, a winner on the ADT, returned on Friday morning to finish three holes where he dramatically holed out for birdie from the fairway to tie for the lead.
“I had the craziest finish on the ninth hole. After a bad drive I had to lay-up and had about 100 yards to the green. The ball bounced a couple of times and went into the hole which was great,” he said.
“This is one of the best courses we play so it was nice to finish four days but this is Mother Nature. I’m not complaining because I’m sitting atop the leaderboard so it is going to be an exciting final round,” Kaske added.
Currently ranked 12th on the Order of Merit, Kaske is on a mission to break into the top-five on the Merit rankings by the end of the season to secure playing rights on the 2016 Asian Tour season.
“I need to win one of the two remaining ADT events. A win here will not move me into the top-five but it will put me closer to it. It is very important but I can’t think about that in the final round. I need to think about birdies tomorrow,” said Kaske.
With the Olympic Games looming in 2016 where golf will be reintroduced as a medal sport, players in the region could earn their spots in Rio de Janeiro by earning Official World Golf Ranking points through the Asian Tour and ADT.
For more information on the ADT, please visit www.asiandevelopmenttour.com
Leading second round scores:
135 – Casey O’TOOLE (USA) 65 70, Janne KASKE (FIN) 67 68
136 – Raphael DE SOUSA (SUI) 69 67
137 – Ratchapol JANTAVARA (THA) 68 69, Pijit PETCHKASEM (THA) 67 70, Greg MOSS (USA) 71 66, Masaru TAKAHASHI (JPN) 69 68, Brandon LAU Ka Kin (MAS) 70 67, Itthipat BURANATANYARAT (THA) 70 67, Chanat SAKULPOLPHAISAN (THA) 70 67, Jordan SHERRATT (AUS) 73 64
138 – Sam CYR (USA) 67 71, LEE Yoo-ho (KOR) 69 69
139 – Nattapong PUTTA (THA) 70 69, KIM Leun-kwang (MAS) 70 69, Mathiam KEYSER (RSA) 69 70, Oskar ARVIDSSON (SWE) 68 71, LEE Shih-hung (TWN) 70 69, Gavin GREEN (MAS) 71 68, Poom SAKSANSIN (THA) 67 72, Donlaphatchai NIYOMCHON (THA) 72 67, Ajeetesh SANDHU (IND) 67 72
140 – Nicholas FUNG (MAS) 70 70, Panuwat MUENLEK (THA) 69 71, Lion GOH (MAS) 68 72, Natthapong NIYOMCHON (THA) 74 66
141 – Amir NAZRIN (A) (MAS) 72 69, Hans JAMIL (MAS) 71 70, Mars PUCAY (PHI) 75 66, Blake SNYDER (USA) 70 71, Wisut ARTJANAWAT (THA) 71 70, Nirun SAE-UENG (THA) 69 72, M. Sasidaran (MAS) 65 76, KHOR Kheng Hwai (MAS) 72 69, Sukree OTHMAN (MAS) 68 73
