Published July 17, 2008 on April 25, 2018

Cautious Higa Stays in the Lead at BTI Open

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Kazuki Higa of Japan stayed in the lead at the halfway stage of the inaugural BTI Open after taking a careful approach on Wednesday.

After opening with a brilliant 62, Higa took the safe approach as he returned with a two-under-par 70 to lead on 12-under-par 132 at the US$60,000 Asian Development Tour (ADT) event.

Bangladeshis Zamal Hossain Mollah and Md. Sajib Ali kept up their chase for a first ADT victory after returning with a 68 and 67 respectively to trail Higa by fours shots at the Kurmitola Golf Club.

Malcolm Kokocinski of Sweden carded a 70 to sit in fourth place on a 137 total while ADT Order of Merit leader John Catlin (66) of the United States and Argentina’s Miguel Carballo (71) were a further shot back in fifth place.

Higa, who is playing in only his second tournament as a professional, was happy with the day’s work of three birdies against one bogey as he only had 30 minutes to warm-up.

“I played very safe today. Before I teed off, I didn’t have enough time to warm up because the 5 a.m. bus was too early for me and I wanted to have breakfast in the hotel. I usually warm up about an hour and 15 minutes so I will go earlier in the next two rounds!” Higa smiled.

“Yesterday my iron shots were really good but today I struggled so I didn’t have many birdie chances. I just did enough to lead the tournament. I don’t want to think about the final two days yet. I’ll continue to play like how I did and see what happens,” he added.

Higa, who turned 23 on Monday, hopes to continue his fine form in his first appearance in Bangladesh after missing out on an Asian Tour card by a single shot in January.

Siddikur Rahman, who won the Dhaka Open on the ADT earlier this year, posted a 69 to trail by seven shots.

The halfway cut was set at two-over 146 with a total of 53 players qualifying for the final two rounds.

The BTI Open is the second ADT event to be staged in Bangladesh this year. The tournament will be afforded Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) points with the winner receiving six OWGR points while the top-six players and ties earn points on a sliding scale.

 

Leading second round scores:

132 – Kazuki HIGA (JPN) 62 70

136 – Zamal Hossain MOLLAH (BAN) 68 68, Md. Sajib ALI (BAN) 69 67

137 – Malcolm KOKOCINSKI (SWE) 67 70

138 – John CATLIN (USA) 72 66, Miguel CARBALLO (ARG) 67 71

139 – Siddikur RAHMAN (BAN) 70 69, M DHARMA (IND) 68 71, Aman RAJ (IND) 73 66

140 – Andrew PARK (USA) 68 72, Shivendra Singh SISODIA (IND) 70 70

141 – Mithun PERERA (SRI) 68 73, Johnson POH (SGP) 71 70, Josh SALAH (USA) 69 72, Tapy GHAI (IND) 71 70, Dulal HOSSAIN (BAN) 69 72, Vikrant CHOPRA (IND) 70 71

142 – Raju ALI (IND) 73 69, Shamim KHAN (IND) 70 72, Anura ROHANA (SRI) 71 71

143 – Md. Ismail (BAN) 71 72, Janne KASKE (FIN) 72 71, Abhishek JHA (IND) 72 71, CHOO Tze Huang (SGP) 69 74, Shakhawat SOHEL (BAN) 68 75, Digvijay SINGH (IND) 72 71, Arjun PRASAD (IND) 71 72, Jeremy WENDELKEN (USA) 74 69, Sujjan SINGH (IND) 72 71, Jesse YAP (SGP) 69 74