Thailand Golf Championship – Charl Schwartzel remains at the top of the leaderboard
Charl Schwartzel of South Africa maintained his lead at the Thailand Golf Championship, after firing a seven-under par 65 in the second round, on Friday, December 7, 2012.
The tournament, which is being played at the Amata Spring Country Club, is the second last event of the 2012 Asian Tour season.
Schwartzel, who finished second in the inaugural edition of the tournament, remained bogey-free in the second round and carded seven birdies to take a three-stroke lead over Thitiphun Chuayprakong.
The South African carded birdies on the first, sixth and the seventh hole, and reached the turn in three-under.
His back-nine performance was even better, as the 2011 Masters champion gained another four birdies on the 11th, 14th, 15th and the 16th hole to post a 14-under par two-round score.
Talking to the Asian Tour’s official website, he expressed his pleasure in being the front-runner at the Amata Spring Country Club, in pursuit of his first professional victory in almost 20 months.
His last professional victory came at the 2011 Masters Tournament, when he defeated Jason Day and Adam Scott, with a two-stroke margin at the Augusta National Golf Club.
“It has been really solid. I’ve put two great rounds together. I hit the ball nicely and gave myself a lot of chances. Those that I missed, I was fortunate to get up and down to save pars. Those are the ones that keep the momentum,” he said.
In addition to that, he was pleased to complete his round in the evening, after the inclement weather forced the game to remain suspended for around one hour.
“We were running to finish (the round). I didn’t want to come back at 5am to play one hole. Happy to have a bit of a sleep,” he said.
He also predicted that a 22-under par tournament score will be enough to record a victory in Thailand.
“I think 22 under will be good. As long as I keep putting myself in position, and keep ticking at it, we’ll see where it finish,” said Schwartzel, who has yet to taste success on the Asian Tour.
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