Chan and Adam surge to early victory in the second round of the Mercuries Taiwan Masters
Chan Yih-shin and Adam Blyth surged to an early lead in the second round of the Mercuries Taiwan Masters on Friday. The event is taking place at the Taiwan Golf and Country Club and will continue till 3rd October, 2010.
Chan who hails from Chinese Taipei birdied the last hole of the back nine to grab a share in the lead along with the Aussie who carded three birdies against one bogey for a 70, before the tournament got suspended
owing to critical lightening conditions.
The overnight leader, Peter Karmis could not complete his round as the horn blew to announce the suspension of the game; he was done with 15 holes and was 2 under by then. He will complete his round along with 27 other players
on Saturday at 7am. The tee time for the third round is yet unconfirmed as it is subject to the finishing time of the second. Earlier the second round of this mega event which is carrying a purse of US$500,000 was suspended for two and a half hours due to
unfavourable conditions.
Meanwhile, Chan who won the King's Cup in Thailand last year blended his scorecard with seven birdies, one bogey and one double bogey to finish on four-under-par 68. His overall aggregate for two days is one-under-par with 143
strokes and this has enabled him to compete with Adam’s total. Chan is considered as a figure of consistency and is known for his excellent putting. On Friday he made 26 putts which were quite remarkable. He made three successive birdies from the fourth hole
of the front nine and later added another three on the 12th, 13th and 14th.
However, the 33-year-old was not contended with his performance as he brushed a double bogey on the 10th hole when his greenside bunker shot flew over the green.
He was followed by Iain Steel and Siddikur who struggled on the greens to wrap the round with a one- over-par 73. Siddikur earned his PGA tour card in August when he posted a victory at the Brunei Open and became the first Bangladeshi
to win on the Asian Tour.
According to the Bengali, the credit of his commendable scores went to his iron play. As for the media reports, it was entertaining to witness some impressive birdies being pulled in from within 10 feet.
Siddikur said, "My second shot was excellent as I hit it close to the holes. Disappointingly my putting wasn't at its best. My birdies were all inside 10 to 12 feet and once I got the ball at that distance, I felt very comfortable
and confident to hole my putts compared to the ones from five feet."
As for the Malaysian Steel, who started from the 10th tee of the back nine, chipped a birdie from 15 feet on the 14th hole but missed three shots in his inward nine. According to Steel, "It was a frustrating round for me. I thought
I hit it good to go to under-par but I just couldn't buy a putt."
Moving further, Chan’s compatriot, Hsieh Min-nan is the oldest player in the tournament on the Asian Tour. He is 70-years-old and has not lost balance; he finished with a 75 and a total of 151 stokes.
This is it for the highlights of the second round of the Mercuries Taiwan Masters which ended on Friday at Taiwan Golf and Country Club. The round got suspended due to darkness and will resume on Saturday morning with 27 players.
Chan Yih-shin and Adam Blyth are the current leaders with a score of 2-under.
According to the media reports, Chan has a fine form and chances are that he continues it to the last round but half of the field is left which means the shape of the leader board can change any time any day.
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