PETALING JAYA: Indonesia’s George Gandranata again stole the limelight, shooting a flawless three-under-par 68 to continue leading the inaugural US$60,000 (RM200,000) Jakarta Invitational golf tournament at the Jababeka Golf and Country Club.
With a two-day total of eight-under-par 134, the 27-year-old Gandranata remained just one shot ahead of Thailand’s Pavit Tangkamolprasert who carded the day’s lowest score of 66.
Australian Jack Munro and Japanese Mitushiko Hashizume both fired a 70 to share third place while Taiwan’s Chan Shih-chang battled to a 68 for fourth spot in the season finale for the 2013 Asian Development Tour (ADT) schedule.
“I didn’t hit it as well as I did yesterday but I had a good start. I am pretty pleased with my game today. One mistake out there can change everything.
“I’ve got a plan on how to attack this golf course and I’ll stick to it for the next two rounds and we will see how it goes,” said Gandranata, who has been playing on the ADT regularly since turning professional in 2012.
He’ll have to watch his back though as Pavit, who charged into contention after producing an eagle, is just one shot back.
“I felt like I was on fire after that eagle and I moved on to make a birdie on the 17th. The weather was hot and the greens were tough out there. I had to work on my mental game,” said Pavit.
England’s Grant Jackson, who is fighting to get into the top four on the ADT Order of Merit to earn his 2014 Asian Tour card, carded a 72 to tie for sixth with a two-day total of 141 alongside Indonesia’s Rory Hie who carded a 71 on Thursday.
American James Bowen, Malaysia’s Iain Steel and Canadian Lindsay Renolds, who are also fighting to earn an Asian Tour card, were placed in tied-ninth, tied-34th and tied-42nd respectively.
With current number one Nicholas Fung of Malaysia having already secured his Asian Tour card through the Asian Tour’s Order of Merit, the next best three players on the ADT rankings will be “promoted” after this week’s final tournament.
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