High flying Thanyakon sizzles with 63
Play
In-form Thanyakon Khrongpha of Thailand fired a superb eight-under-par 63 to take the early lead in the weather-interrupted second round of the US$750,000 Indonesia Open yesterday.
The slightly-built Thai produced a near perfect card which included nine birdies before stumbling to a lone bogey on his last hole to settle for a 12-under-par 130 total at the Damai Indah Golf, PIK Course. Padraig Harrington had completed 12 holes and was level with Thanyakon at the top of the leader board when play was called off early due to bad weather yesterday.
Asian Tour rookie Nathan Holman of Australia matched Thanyakon’s efforts to trail the early leader by two shots while Scott Hend and Jarin Todd of the United States were a further shot back on 133.
“Everything in my game was good especially my ball striking. I hit a lot of shots for close range birdies. The longest birdie of the day was on the seventh hole from 30 feet,” said the 24-year-old Thanyakon.
The Thai is enjoying a rich vein of form, securing a top-five finish in Japan and joint second in Chiang Mai on the Asian Tour two weeks ago. He credited his upswing to his coach Andrew Knott, whom he has been working with to improve his mental game since 2013.
“I enjoyed a good run after turning professional in 2010 but after that I didn’t do too well because I had no confidence in my swing. Mentally I was not strong enough. Then last year, I worked with Andrew and I’ve really improved since then,” said Thanyakon.
Tour rookie Holman peppered the flags in ideal scoring conditions to return with a bogey free round. Currently in 95th position on the Order of Merit, the Australian is spurred on by the thought of saving his card for next year.
“I’m looking to play on the Asian Tour until the end of the year and try to keep my card. Keeping my card is definitely on my mind and it is spurring me on a little bit. It is a good thought to have. Anytime you shoot in the low 60s when you got something on the line is always good,” said Holman.
Big-hitting Hend was seven-under for the day before returning with eight straight pars. His shot of the day came when he eagled the 13th hole from eight feet.
“I had some loose shots coming in and I’m a bit lucky to make some par putts and saves. I hit it good on the first nine and not so good on the back so it even out. Now I’m in a nice position,” said Hend, a six-time Asian Tour winner.
