KUANTAN, 25 SEPT 2024 – Fakhrul Akmal maintained an iron grip on the Harrier Cup when he carded a second six-under 66 at Kelab Golf DiRaja Pahang here today, opening up a three-shot lead over Kim Leun Kwang with one round to go.
Fakhrul completed a flawless round of three birdies on each nine and despite three-putting the reachable Par 5 first hole, indicated that he was ready to record his first professional victory on the Toyota Tour.
“To be honest, my putting wasn’t as good as I wanted it to be and I left at least four birdies out there,” said the 28-year-old Kedahan. “My overall game especially my irons after 36 holes has given me confidence and I’m looking forward to hopefully achieving victory tomorrow.”
For Kim, this is the second consecutive time that he will be playing in the championship group on the Toyota Tour. Last month at Palm Resort GCC, Kim was paired with Paul San and Syahiran Syakir but ended up second, two strokes behind the Supra Cup winner San.
“Maybe tomorrow might be different,” declared Kim who added a four-under 68 to his 67 yesterday. “I’m just three strokes behind Fakhrul and in golf, anything can happen.” Kim’s nearest rival would be Sabahans Brandon Lai and Ben Leong who are a further three strokes adrift.
Kenneth De Silva achieved the low round of the tournament so far when he carded seven birdies without bogeys for a 65. He vaulted himself into joint fifth on 141 with Lee Chong Li, Edven Ying, Daeng Rahman and Kemarol Baharin. The Toyota Tour is organised by the Professional Golf Malaysia and delivered by MST Golf.
Ying, the local hope with Ruhanraj Vinayagam could only manage a three-under 69 and is nine strokes behind the leader. The 2023 Vios Cup champion started off brightly on the inward nine, birdieing the first three holes.
He added another on the par 5 18th which will be dubbed the ‘miracle birdie’ of the tournament. Ying sliced his tee shot so badly that his ball ended up on the adjoining 10th fairway. He had no look at the 18th green due to the tall trees. Ying ran down the length of the 10th hole to find a spot that he could land his ball for his third shot at the green. Ying then brilliantly sent his third over some trees and onto the green, five feet from the pin which he holed, much to the delight of the partisan crowd.
However towards the end of his second nine, Ying suffered cramps in both legs which resulted in a bad drive off the Par 4 ninth. Hampered by trees, Ying could only advance the ball 120 yards ahead. After a fairly good chip he missed the par putt and had to settle for a bogey. “Today was one of those days,” smiled Ying. “My putting let me down miserably and I had trouble finding fairways.
In the Ladies Championship, Zulaikah Nasser opened up a four-shot lead over Geraldine Wong when she carded a commendable three-under 69 for a two-day 142 aggregate. Zulaikah had birdies on Holes 1, 7, 10, 12 and 18. She bogeyed 15 and 17.
Leading 2nd Rd scores
132 Fakhrul Akmal 66-66
135 Kim Leun Kwang 67-68
138 Brandon Lai 69-69, Ben Leong 69-69
141 Lee Chong Li 70-71, Edven Ying 72-69, Daeng Rahman 69-72, Kenneth De Silva 76-65, Kemarol Bahrin 71-70
142 Zurie Harun 70-72, Airil Rizman 73-69, Zia Izzuddeen 69-73
Ladies Championship
142 Zulaikah Nasser 73-69
146 Geraldine Wong 73-73
148 Michele Koh 75-73
151 Wang Xin Yao (am) 73-78
152 Amalia Shahzan 76-76