Published July 17, 2008 on April 20, 2018

Hoshino Holds Lead at the Panasonic Open Golf Championship

---

Japan’s Rikuya Hoshino held on to his overnight lead by posting a three-under-par 68 to stay in control at the Panasonic Open Golf Championship on Friday.

The 21-year-old will enjoy a two-shot cushion heading into the weekend rounds with his two-day total of 10-under-par 132 but has to be wary of a host of players bunched in tied-second place that features India’s Rahil Gangjee and Malaysia’s Ben Leong, who have emerged as the surprise package at the Ibaraki Country Club this week.

Hoshino said, “I did not have much chances today. I felt like I was trying to save par all day. I birdied three of my last four holes which was nice. I like to finish strongly and go for that win. But I also have to try not to think too much about final result. I just have to play shot by shot. I will be aggressive if I have to and play conservatively if there is a need. I am gaining more distance and accuracy after playing on the JGTO for two years. But I hope to improve on the mental aspect of my game. I know the par-fives are reachable here so I will try to make sure I score there.”

Thailand’s Jazz Janewattananond also made his move by grabbing a share of eighth place with another 68 while compatriot Rattanon Wannasrichan gave himself a reason to believe he can surmount a late challenge for the Panasonic Swing top prize by returning with a 67 for a tie of 11th place with American Sihwan Kim and the Japanese pair of Kodai Ichihara and Ryo Ishikawa.

Gangjee, who has not featured in the weekend rounds all year, sprung a surprise even on himself by marking his card with eight birdies at the JP¥150,000,000 (approx. US$1,370,000) event, sanctioned by the Asian Tour and Japan Golf Tour Organisation (JGTO).

The 39-year-old Indian posted the day’s lowest score of 65 to continue his dream run while Leong also kept his amazing run going by taking advantage of the benign weather conditions to stay close to Hoshino as the Malaysian chases his first Asian Tour win in a decade.

“Fortunately the weather is great today which made scoring easier. I played well and made my fair share of putts. I’m surprised as I was not happy with the way I’m swinging the golf club coming into this week. I took some time early in the week to think and work on it. It’s paying off. My wife has been telling me to do what you do best and just go out there and have fun. No matter how I play, it’s definitely a blessing to welcome my baby boy into our lives and I’m looking forward to the weekend,” said Leong.

62 players progressed into the weekend rounds with the cut set at one-under.

Leading Scores after round 2

132 – Rikuya HOSHINO (JPN) 64-68.

134 – Ryosuke KINOSHITA (JPN) 65-69, Hyungsung KIM (KOR) 66-68, Sanghyun PARK (KOR) 67-67, Shingo KATAYAMA (JPN) 64-70, Rahil GANGJEE (IND) 69-65, Ben LEONG (MAS) 67-67.

136 – Jazz JANEWATTANANOND (THA) 68-68, Thanyakon KHRONGPHA (THA) 67-69, Masahiro KAWAMURA (JPN) 66-70.

137 – Kodai ICHIHARA (JPN) 66-71, Rattanon WANNASRICHAN (THA) 70-67, Ryo ISHIKAWA (JPN) 71-66, Sihwan KIM (USA) 70-67.

138 – Brad KENNEDY (AUS) 66-72, Ajeetesh SANDHU (IND) 69-69, Junggon HWANG (KOR) 71-67, Toshinori MUTO (JPN) 70-68, Jbe KRUGER (RSA) 70-68, Narutoshi YAMAOKA (JPN) 72-66, Giwhan KIM (KOR) 67-71, Miguel TABUENA (PHI) 70-68, Kenichi KUBOYA (JPN) 66-72, Michael HENDRY (NZL) 67-71, Yuki INAMORI (JPN) 69-69, Shohei KARIMATA (JPN) 69-69.

139 – Mingyu CHO (KOR) 71-68, Brendan JONES (AUS) 72-67, Jinichiro KOZUMA (JPN) 66-73, Daisuke MARUYAMA (JPN) 71-68, Shaun NORRIS (RSA) 69-70, Mikumu HORIKAWA (JPN) 72-67, Sanghee LEE (KOR) 66-73, Koichi KITAMURA (JPN) 68-71, Daijiro IZUMIDA (JPN) 70-69.

140 – HUNG Chien-yao (TPE) 69-71, Wei-chih LU (TPE) 70-70, Michio MATSUMURA (JPN) 74-66, Ryuko TOKIMATSU (JPN) 71-69, Scott VINCENT (ZIM) 73-67, Keith HORNE (RSA) 74-66, Yamato SHIRAISHI (am, JPN) 69-71, Ryuji MASAOKA (JPN) 73-67, Prom MEESAWAT (THA) 68-72, Konosuke NAKAZATO (JPN) 69-71, Prayad MARKSAENG (THA) 68-72, Shugo IMAHIRA (JPN) 72-68.