Malaysia’s Iain Steel fired a steady six-under-par 66 and grabbed the second round lead at the Pertamina Indonesia President Invitational yesterday.
Steel, with two top-10 finishes this season, tackled the tricky conditions at the Damai Indah Golf and Country Club for a nine-under-par 135 total.
Filipino Mars Pucay was one behind after carding the lowest round of the day with a 65 to lie joint second with Lin Wen-tang of Taiwan, who was even-par for the day, and Thailand’s Thaworn Wiratchant who shot 69.
Lin had led the opening round before play was suspended on Thursday due to lightning. A total of 15 players had returned early yesterday to complete their opening rounds.
But it was Steel who took charge on the second day, playing a bogey-free round with six birdies.
“I haven’t been playing well all year but in the last two tournaments I finished strongly and this week again I’m playing steady,” Steel said.
“This is my third straight bogey-free round [including the final round at Brunei Open last week] and it’s been a good run for me,” he said.
Pucay, 38, charged up the leaderboard thanks to a solid start with birdies in the first four holes before closing in with a strong 65.
“After more than 12 years, it was only last year when I decided to adopt an aggressive approach and it’s paying off now,” he said.
After a 64 in the opening round, Lin, who won the Asian Tour International title in Thailand in March, battled windy conditions on the way to a 72 yesterday.
“The wind was unpredictable today. It proved costly especially with my shots off the tee,” Lin said.
“I’m satisfied but I’m not too happy with how I was driving the ball today,” he said.
Former Asian Tour number one Thaworn is eyeing his second title this season and remained in contention after a round of 69.
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