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Unheralded Han takes over lead by surprise

American Seungsu Han took spectators by surprise as he shot four-under 67 to take over the clubhouse lead at the halfway stage of the US$1 million SMBC Singapore Open on Friday

Dicky Christanto (The Jakarta Post)
Singapore
Sat, January 21, 2017

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Unheralded Han takes over lead by surprise

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merican Seungsu Han took spectators by surprise as he shot four-under 67 to take over the clubhouse lead at the halfway stage of the US$1 million SMBC Singapore Open on Friday.

Han, ranked 506th in the world, is on nine-under 133 at the Sentosa Golf Club, leading by two strokes over Australia’s Adam Scott and Malaysia’s Gavin Green, who was at seven-under through 15 holes before play was suspended due to fading light at 7:21 p.m. local time.

Scott, who also shot 67, finished the day at second place as he is seeking a fourth Singapore Open title.

“The scores are pretty good. I putted really well, which is nice. I hope to hit the ball a little bit better on the weekend and make a few putts, keep going in the right direction and have another run at the title,” he said.

Scott made a fast start with an opening birdie and picked up another shot at the 12th hole before dropping a shot at the next.

His second birdie of the day at the 17th was followed by some brilliant shot-making on the 18th, which nearly brought him an eagle.

A booming drive set up a short approach to the par-five and he stuck 3.6 meters from the hole, only to miss a makeable putt.

“I got off to a great start when I won here the first two times. It’s just one of those courses that I feel very comfortable on. I always feel like I am coming back to my second home in Sentosa,” said the Australian.

Scott snatched the 2005 Singapore Open after beating Lee Westwood of England by seven shots. He defeated South African Ernie Els a year later.

He bagged his third title in 2010 with a stunning 17-under-267 score and finished three strokes clear of Denmark’s Anders Hansen.

Meanwhile, the first round’s shared leader Hideto Tanihara failed to catch up as he fell into the sixth position in the second round. Tanihara blundered with two bogeys and his only birdie in Friday’s run, a significant slump after his six birdies on Thursday.

Tanihara, a 14-time Japan Golf Tour winner, finished at a shared sixth in the last edition of the Singapore Open.

The second round will continue on Saturday morning with 24 players slated to complete their rounds.

The cut is projected to be one-over 143 and those likely to miss out include four-time Major champion Ernie Els, world number 34 Yuta Ikeda of Japan —both shot 144 — and Singapore’s favorite, Mardan Mamat, who shot 149.

The SMBC Singapore Open has come a long the way from 1961 and between 2009 and 2012 was co-sanctioned by the Asian Tour and the European Tour.

The tournament went through a three-year hiatus before coming back in full force in 2016. Korea’s Song Younghan won the 2016 SMBC Singapore Open.

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