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RI golfers see chances at next round, Taiwan’s Chang secures hole-in-one
Rinaldi Adiyandono (Courtesy of Image Dynamic)Five Indonesian golfers might have their doors opened to the third round as they managed to secure their position on the leaderboard
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Rinaldi Adiyandono (Courtesy of Image Dynamic)
Five Indonesian golfers might have their doors opened to the third round as they managed to secure their position on the leaderboard. This would mark a historical moment for the US$750,000 tournament, which has never witnessed so many Indonesians march to the third round.
The five are Rinaldi Adiyandono, Joshua Andrew Wirawan, George Gandranata, Ramadhan Alwie and Naraajie Emerald R.P. Rinaldi and Joshua booked 3-under-par, while George and Ramadhan secured 2-under-par.
Rinaldi had looked even stronger after the first day, as his 4-under-par 68 performance secured him the 14th position on the leaderboard. He also impressed the audience with birdies on the sixth and seventh holes.
“I played less comfortably today due to an old injury that comes and goes. It feels like this whenever I am exhausted,” he said.
He said he was nevertheless grateful to have made the cut and join the other golfers to the next round. He vowed to play more consistently on the weekend.
The tournament was suspended due to bad weather, but continued when the sun came out again.
Naraajie became the last Indonesian golfer to join the group of local talent moving on to the next round, as he was struggling to catch up, with pars along the game. Naraajie then surprised everybody by scoring two birdies on his last three holes, catapulting him to the 51st position, and thereby allowing him to move on in the competition.
“My personal ambition is to be the only amateur golfer striking a historical moment at this tournament. And I begin to see that coming,” he said in a statement sent to The Jakarta Post on Friday.
Naraajie had previously secured 2-under-par and then acknowledged that he had spent the following night seeking advice from his coach.
The second day closed with England’s Justin Rose tightening his grip and keeping him on top of the leaderboard. Rose produced five birdies, but then slipped on hole 15 and blasted a bogey instead. So far, the 2016 Olympic gold medalist has scored 14-under-par. At the time of writing, Rose had two holes to go.
Behind him was newcomer Kiradech Aphibarnat of Thailand, who scored 3-under-par on the second day. In total, Kiradech was 12-under-par.
Meanwhile, Taiwanese golfer Sung Mao-Chang boosted everyone’s mood at the tournament as he hit a hole-in-one at the third hole.
