Kiradech Aphibarnrat of Thailand took a big step towards regaining his PGA TOUR card on Friday after a second round of 7-under 65 propelled him into tied second place in the Korn Ferry Tour Championship presented by United Leasing & Finance.
The 33-year-old Thai hit nine birdies against two bogeys at Victoria National Golf Club in Newburgh, Indiana to trail leader Michael Giglic of Canada (66) by two strokes in the last tournament of the Korn Ferry Tour Finals, which will award PGA TOUR cards to the top-25 players.
Korea’s Byeong Hun An, who has already secured his PGA TOUR return following the conclusion of the Regular Season last month, also carded a 65 to share second place as he chases a second win on the Korn Ferry Tour this year.
China’s Carl Yuan kept up his chase to finish No. 1 in the season-long points race after a 70, which featured four birdies against two bogeys, put him in tied 13th place, some eight shots back on 8-under. Current points leader Paul Haley II sits on 3-under going into the weekend. Finishing No. 1 grants exemptions into THE PLAYERS Championship and U.S. Open as well next season.
Kiradech, the first Thai to hold a PGA TOUR card, was delighted to hit form with his putter in what is a pressure-packed week. “I would say I got out to a good start, made birdie on the first hole and (shot) 5-under on the front. The last two weeks, my putts just didn’t drop as much as I wanted to. The first two days seem to be much better,” said Kiradech.
He failed to finish inside the top-125 on the FedExCup for the second straight season, forcing him to compete in the Korn Ferry Tour Finals, a series of three tournaments. The arrival of his first Thai caddie, Prajak Khaoprathum, in the U.S. in July has been a positive influence.
“I need a Thai guy on the bag, I need to speak some Thai, and I’m not enjoying my work at all,” said Kiradech, who was a regular name in the world’s top-30 several years ago before losing his form.
“When you’re playing good by yourself, you’re not celebrating with anyone. When you’re playing bad, staying with yourself again, you just can’t explain anything to anyone. When I got him at Rocket Mortgage (Classic) and feel I’m enjoying playing more golf, playing good at Wyndham, I still can say I’ve played great golf the last few weeks even though I finished 55th (in Boise) and missed the cut last week, I’m still striking the ball really solid.
 “The goal for me this week, I think I have to be top six, top seven, or top five, I don’t know. I don’t want to focus on that. Even if I can’t get the job done, I could go back and play DP World Tour or the Korn Ferry Tour. I’ve been playing poorly the last few years, from top 30 in the world to 300-something.”
Like Kiradech, Korea’s An is also a former top-30 golfer before losing his PGA TOUR status for the first time in 2021. However, he successfully regained his playing rights on the world’s elite circuit and now hopes to wrap up his season on a winning note.
“You can tell by the score that I played decent yesterday and played pretty good today. Overall, my long game is solid. I hit a lot of fairways. That was my goal this week, to hit a lot of greens and fairways. I’m quite happy with where I am right now,” said An, who hit 8 birdies, including three closing birdies.
 “It’s (TOUR card) locked but you still want to finish as high as you can. These last three weeks all the graduates have been playing pretty well. I feel like I’ve played pretty well the last two weeks, I finished 20th then 14th or whatever and then I think I moved down one spot. That tells you how tough it is. I try to tell myself in the mornings that, ‘It’s going to be a good day,’ every day and it seems to be working. I just need to keep doing that for two more days.”
Third-round tee times will run from 7:05 a.m. through 9:05 a.m. local time off the first and tenth tees.
Second-Round Notes
- The cut was made at 2-under par with 76 players advancing to the weekend
- 15 players who earned their PGA TOUR cards through the Regular Season Points List survived the 36-hole cut, and all eight players who secured their card through the Finals also advanced to the weekend
- Michael Gligic (1st / -14) holds the second 36-hole lead of his career, with the first being earlier this season at the PGA TOUR’s Zurich Classic of New Orleans, where he eventually finished T36
- Kiradech Aphibarnrat (T2 / -12) holds his highest 36-hole position in any PGA TOUR-sanctioned event, with his previous best being T3 at the 2013 CIMB Classic (finished T3) and 2017 World Golf Championship – HSBC Champions (finished T24)
- Will Gordon (T2 / -12) has carded a field-leading 17 birdies this week, while Camilo Villegas (T2 / -12) is tied for the field lead in total birdies with 17 (one eagle, 16 birdies)
- Gordon projects to maintain his No. 1 position in The Finals 25 points race, which awards fully exempt status for the 2022-23 PGA TOUR season and an exemption into the 2023 PLAYERS Championship
- Carl Yuan (T13 / -8) projects to pass Paul Haley II (T49 / -3) for the No. 1 spot in the season-long points race, which awards fully exempt status for the 2022-23 PGA TOUR season, an exemption into the 2023 PLAYERS Championship and, for the first time in history, an exemption into the 2023 U.S. Open
- The Korn Ferry Tour Championship presented by United Leasing & Finance is the third and final tournament of the three-event Korn Ferry Tour Finals, in addition to being the 26th and final event of the 2022 Korn Ferry Tour season
- The Korn Ferry Tour Championship presented by United Leasing & Finance is the third and final tournament of the three-event Korn Ferry Tour Finals, in addition to being the 26th and final event of the 2022 Korn Ferry Tour season
- The Finals 25 will be determined following the conclusion of Sunday’s final round, with PGA TOUR cards being awarded to each member of The Finals 25
- This week’s purse is $1,000,000, with $180,000 going to the champion; the champion will also receive 1,000 Korn Ferry Tour points
- Next season’s Korn Ferry Tour Finals events will feature minimum purses of $1,500,000
Second-Round Course Statistics
- Scoring Average (Total – Par 72): 70.427 [-1.573]
- Scoring Average (Front Nine): 35.260 [-0.740]
- Scoring Average (Back Nine): 35.168 [-0.832]
- Toughest Holes: No. 17, Par 4, 454 yards – 4.191 [+0.191]; No. 3, Par 5, 578 yards – 5.191 [+0.191]
- Easiest Hole: No. 15, Par 5, 548 yards – 4.374 [-0.626]
