Woodlands, Leishman share second round lead
KUALA LUMPUR: Gary Woodland of the United States and Australia’s Marc Leishman surged to top the leaderboard to share the lead in the second round of the 2018 CIMB Classic golf championship, here today.
The 34-year- old from Kansas, shot the lowest score of 61 in today’s round, highlighted with 11 birdies for a two-day total of 14-under-par 130.
“I’ve shot 63 a couple times on Tour. A 61 is definitely the lowest I’ve shot in a while. I shot 59 in a Monday qualifier. I’ve had some things going,” said Woodlands on his low scores.
“You don’t know if you’re going to shoot 11 under, but I knew I was playing well. I knew I was playing well yesterday and I felt like today I did the exact same thing.
“It’s nice to just stay aggressive out here. This golf course suits up pretty good for me, I’ve had success here in the past. It’s nice to be back and playing well,” added Woodlands, who was the tournament’s runnerup in 2013.
Leishman today also had a low score, a 62 to follow-up yesterday’s 68 for an identical two-day total of 130.
“Happy with the round today. Hit it a lot better today. Well, the driver especially. It was pretty ugly yesterday, but got away with it. Worked out what I was doing on the range this morning and, yeah, 62 was the result.
“It was nice to hit it the way I did and then make some putts as well,” said the 35-year-old Australian.
Leishman noted that he would like to continue having good putts and a low score.
India’s Shubhankar Sharma was delighted that he managed to continue his good form from yesterday’s round.
“Really happy, really pleased with the way I played. Had a lot of birdie opportunities and I converted most of them, so very happy,” said the current Asian Tour’s Habitat for Humanity Standings leader.
The 22-year- old Shubhankar is currently tied in third place with England’s Paul Casey with a total of 13-under-par 131.
Overnight leader Bronson Burgoon slipped to share fifth place with compatriot Austin Cook and Scott Piercy on 12-under-par 132.
World number four Justin Thomas, a two-time CIMB Classic champion, shot a 69 today to tie in 15th place with four other players.
Malaysia’s Ben Leong scored a 70 to follow-up yesterday’s 68 to tie in 29th place. — Bernama