Pieters leads by one stroke after second round of Maybank C’ship
PETALING JAYA: Belgium's Thomas Pieters surged into title contention with his strong performance at the 2019 Maybank Championship golf tournament that is being held at “The Cobra Course of the Saujana Golf and Country Club here.
The 27-year-old holds a slim one-shot lead after producing four birdies and a sole bogey for a three-under par 69 to follow-up yesterday's 67 for an eight-underpar 136 total after two round.
“I struggled off the tee early on, at the end, it was a lot better. It didn't feel like a good day to me, I made the best of what I had. I gave myself a lot of chances but I couldn't seem to get the ball in the hole.
“I birdied the 16th, the par three, it was a nice putt. But other than that I felt like I was missing putts all over. I tried not to over read the putt on 16. When you miss a couple of putts you try to read to much into it. I just put it down, looked once, and gave it a go,” said Pieters, who has four wins under his belt since turning pro in 2013.
In yesterday's round, Pieters carded four birdies and dropped a bogey at the par-four second hole for a 69.
Overnight joint leader, Nacho Elvira of Spain and Indonesia's Danny Masrin shared second place with identical two-day total of seven-under-par 137.
“I still feel like I'm playing solid, I struggled a bit on 14, I three putted on 13. I had a really easy birdie chance then I three putted. The 14th is a really tough hole, everybody knows it. The pin was tucked, I had a hard chip, anyway, double there and then three putted the next hole.
“Overall I'm happy. I'm hitting the ball fine, I'm putting myself in position to find the pins and I'm looking forward to the weekend,” said the 32-year-old Elvira, who hails from Madrid.
Indonesia's Danny Masrin remained unfazed by the prospect of going up against his more illustrious rivals in the competition.
The 26-year-old, who is playing under the ASEAN invite category this week, did not display any signs of nerves as he continued to put himself in contention. “I'm focusing on my processes and so far it has been really good. I'm going to treat this as another golf tournament and not put too much pressure on myself. I'll go through the same routine, process. The target every day is to cut the lead as much as I can,” he said.
After opening with a threeunder-par 69, the Indonesian went one better as he traded seven birdies and three bogeys to sign in for a 68 and a share of second place with Elvira.
Seven golfers, including Thai star Jazz Janaewattananond and Major winner Ernie Els of South Africa, are trailing the leader by two shots.