Shahrul Ikhzuan lighted up a high-scoring day when he achieved a hole-in-one on the longest par three 8th hole during the second round of the Camry Cup at the Forest City Golf Resort here today.
The Johorean from Kota Tinggi couldn’t believe he would be able to score an ace by using a driver off the tee. “It’s 247 yards slightly into the wind with the pin tucked back left,” said Shahrul, nicknamed ‘Black’ by his peers. “We saw the ball land on the front part of the
green but couldn’t see where it ended.”
Playing alongside Shahrul coincidentally was Chan Soo Keong, the first player to score a hole- in-one on the Toyota Tour, organised by the Professional Golf Malaysia and delivered by MST Golf Group.
“Before we teed off on that hole, Chan said we had to score a hole-in-one and strangely
enough, I did it,” added Shahrul who, despite showing a 1 on the par three, will miss the cut for tomorrow’s final round.
Shahrul almost pulled out from this morning’s round as he was still feeling pain due to a fall last Thursday which hurt his waist. “But I’m glad I played on and now I’ve got my first hole- in-one,” smiled Shahrul who became the third professional to achieve an ace on the Toyota Tour. Sukree Othman was the second, bagging his ace during the Supra Cup at The Mines Resort Golf Club.
Meanwhile Kemarol Baharin played consistent golf to shoot to the top of the leaderboard when he carded a two-under 70 for a two-day aggregate of 142. Kemarol had an incredible seven birdies on his card but three bogeys and a double on the par four 4th prevented him from returning a lower score.
The fourth hole proved to be the hardest today, playing to an average of 4.71. Yesterday
during the first round, that hole averaged 4.83. In fact none of the men managed a birdie on this hole today.
Daeng Abdul Rahman managed to par this hole and in fact had just one bogey on his card. With two birdies on hand, he managed to carve out a one-under 71 to go with the 72 he registered yesterday and is lying second, just one stroke behind Kemarol.
“I’m happy to be in this position, where I am in contention once again,” said the 23-year-old who plays a lot of his golf here. At 15, he was the youngest amateur to win a professional event at the Danau Golf Club in 2015. He went on to add two more victories as a pro.
“But that was before Covid, so it’s been a while since I last won a tournament. I’m driving the ball well and hopefully my familiarity with this Nicklaus layout will help me tomorrow.”
Another player making a comeback to professional competition is Hans Jamil. He opened the first round with a forgettable 10-over 82 and seemed likely to miss the cut. Starting the day on the back nine, Jamil was three over after nine holes.
After crossing over onto the front nine, he had a birdie on the third but bogeyed the fifth and sixth. With three holes left to play, Hans knew he had to do something exceptional to continue playing the tournament. He then birdied the 7th, parred the 8th and then birdied the 9th to shoot a two-over 74 and make the cut on the mark.
“What a relief,” exclaimed Hans. “I know I have the game but I need to work on my physical and get into shape. My swing is there and I still have the hunger,” said Hans who is a swing instructor with MST GolfLab at the MST Golf Arena, Tropicana Gardens Mall.
Two bogeys and three birdies gave Geraldine Wong a one-under 71 for a two-day aggregate of even par 144 and a three-shot lead over amateur Ng Jing Xuen. Audrey Tan and Dianne Luke share third spot a further stroke behind.
Leading Scores (Men)
142 Kemarol Baharin 72-70
143 Daeng Abdul Rahman 72-71
144 Faisal Sabudin 73-71
145 Kim Leun Kwang 73-72
146 Azry Asraf 73-73; Wafiyuddin Manaf 74-72; Nazri Zain 70-76
147 Fakhrul Akmal 70-77
Ladies
144 Geraldine Wong 73-71
147 Ng Jing Xuen (am) 73-74
148 Audrey Tan 75-73
148 Dianne Luke 73-75
