THURSDAY, March 28, 2024
nationthailand

Kaske fires 66 to share halfway lead while Phachara lurks 

Kaske fires 66 to share halfway lead while Phachara lurks 

Seongnam - Finland’s Janne Kaske broke the local stronghold by firing a superb five-under-par 66 to grab a share of the halfway lead while birthday boy Phachara Khongwatmai of Thailand lurks by two shots at The 38th GS Caltex Maekyung Open Golf Championship on Friday.

After signing for an opening 70, Kaske nailed six birdies against a bogey at the Namseoul Country Club to move atop the Korean-dominated leaderboard where he sits alongside overnight co-leader Taehee Lee of Korea (69) with matching totals of six-under-par 136s.

Local prospects Yoseop Seo and Junwon Park trail the leading duo by one shot in third place following respective rounds of 69 and 68 at the KR₩1,200,000,000 (approx. US$1,067,000) event, which is celebrating its 38th edition this week.

Phachara, who turns 20 years old today, posted a commendable 68 to settle for a share of fifth place on 138 with Gowoong Choi of Korea. The young Thai talent is the only foreigner after Kaske to sit inside the top-10 after 36 holes at the Maekyung Open.

Kaske, who started from the 10th hole, chipped in for birdie on the 12th before reeling in six consecutive pars to turn in 34. A birdie on the first sparked a hot run for the 32-year-old as he went on to sink three consecutive birdies from the third.

Despite stumbling with a bogey on the sixth, Kaske kept his cool and bounced back swiftly with an impressive birdie on the next, where he rolled in a 30-footer downhill from back edge of the green.

Defending champion Sanghyun Park of Korea, who is chasing for an unprecedented treble in the storied event, followed up his opening round 72 with a bogey-free 68 on his familiar winning ground to tie in 11th place on 140.

Korean National Team player Seunghyeon Oh produced the shot of the day on the par-three sixth hole after his five-iron tee shot found the bottom of the cup from 234 yards. The amateur, however, failed to make the weekend rounds after signing for an eventual 77.

The halfway cut was set at four-over-par 146 with a total of 73 players, including five local amateurs, progressing into the weekend rounds at the event, co-sanctioned by the Asian Tour and the Korea Golf Association.

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