Published July 17, 2008 on March 22, 2018

Newcomer Chung Grabs a Share of Clubhouse Lead at OB Golf Invitational

---

 

Newly-turned professional Sydney Chung of the United States surged into a share of the clubhouse lead after carding a sparkling second round six-under-par 65 at the weather-disrupted OB Golf Invitational on Thursday.

The 23-year-old Chung, who joined the play-for-pay ranks three months ago, fired nine birdies against a double-bogey and a bogey to sit atop the leaderboard alongside local prospect Indra Hermawan on four-under-par 138 total at the US$ 70,000 Asian Development Tour (ADT) event.

Overnight leader John Catlin of the United States reeled in six consecutive pars to remain on 142 before play was abandoned for the day at 6.00pm local time due to fading light. It was earlier suspended at 1.10pm due to lightning threats before resuming at 3.45pm.

Catlin will be amongst the 56 players from the afternoon session, scheduled to return to the Gunung Geulis Golf and Country Club at 6.30am on Friday to complete their rounds. The third and penultimate round will not start before 11am.

The projected cut is currently set at five-over-par 147 with the leading 50 players and ties advancing to the final two rounds.

Chung, who returned to complete his opening round on Thursday morning, overcame a six-shot deficit to move into contention in only his third start on the region’s secondary circuit.

“I came back to complete my first round this morning and I didn’t warm up before heading out for the second round. I just stretched a little bit and went out there. I was swinging the club well the first couple of holes so I took aggressive lines all day, just to see if I could climb up the leaderboard as much as possible today. My game plan worked out well,” said Chung.

“The wind was down compared to yesterday when I played in the afternoon so I was able to take advantage of it with the short clubs in my hand. I struggled on the greens today and I didn’t make a putt from over 10-feet. But I gave myself a lot of looks since I was striking the ball well,” added Chung.

Starting from the 10th hole, Chung nailed eight birdies before stumbling with a double-bogey on the sixth. He recovered swiftly with a birdie on the next but gave it away after dropping a bogey on his last hole ninth.

“On the sixth hole, I actually only had 60 yards left after my drive. I was playing aggressive all day so I went right at the pin, but it took such a firm bounce and went into the hazard. Then I missed my putt for bogey. But I recovered on the very next hole with a birdie,” Chung said.

Hermawan kept up the local hopes after marking his card with five birdies against three bogeys for a second straight round of 69.

“I played pretty consistently and stuck to my game plan. Putting was key for me today and that boosted my confidence. But after the rain delay it got a little too cold for me and I didn’t warm up enough,” said the 36-year-old Indonesian.

All ADT events are afforded Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) status. The winner of each tournament receives a minimum of six OWGR points while the top-six players and ties earn points on a sliding scale.

The leading five players on the ADT Order of Merit at the end of the season will earn playing rights on the premier Asian Tour for the 2019 season.

Leading Second Round Scores

138 – Sydney Chung (USA), Indra Hermawan (INA)

139 – Johnson Poh (SGP), Blake Snyder (USA)

140 – Oscar Zetterwall (SWE)

141 – Matt Killen (ENG)

142 – Naoki Sekito (JPN), Udayan Mane (IND), Malcolm Kokcinski (SWE), Ryonosuke Seki (JPN)