KOTA KINABALU, 17 JULY 2024 – Nasrullah Zulkifli converted a chip-in eagle on his final hole at the difficult par five 18th to shoot a nervy one-under 71 and take a one stroke lead going into tomorrow’s final round of the Hilux Cup at the demanding Sabah GCC course.
Lying in joint second are Daeng Rahman who shot a 67 for the low round of the tournament so far and Fakhrul Akmal who added another 70 for a two-day aggregate of 140. These three will make up the championship flight tomorrow, teeing off at 9.00 am.
Alone in third is Vios Cup winner Paul San on 141 while Amir and local boy Casper Loh are a stroke further behind on 142. After two rounds, only seven players played below par while the cut-off was at plus 13, making it the highest on Tour so far.
In the Ladies Championship, Geraldine Wong strengthened her lead by four strokes after carding a four-over 76 for a two-day aggregate of 153. Holding on to second place is Durriyah Damian on 157 while local hope Aretha Pan is a further stroke adrift in this fifth leg of the Toyota Tour organised by the PGM and delivered by MST Golf.
Starting the round level with Amir Nazrin at four under, the 26-year-old Nasrullah had a good start, making birdie on the short and tricky 3rd hole. But he dropped two strokes on the very next, succumbing to a double bogey on the par 4 fourth. Two holes later he gave away another stroke with bogey at the sixth.
More disaster loomed when he found the lake on the right of the par four 9th green, trying to reach the putting surface in one from the teebox. “I know I can make the green off the tee, but my ball must have caught a whiff of wind,” said Nasrullah who hails from Kuala Lumpur.
However, he calmly sent his third shot onto the green and from four feet he converted to save par. Nasrullah added another birdie on the par 4 15th. Then on the long par 5 18th he found the right side of the green with his second shot. “I got lucky. Had I missed with my chip, it would have ended up 10, 12 feet past as it was downhill.”
Nasrullah is indeed in unfamiliar territory as this is the first time he is leading a professional tournament as a rookie, having given up his amateur status last October. But he has won in this state before – the Sabah Amateur Open in Kudat 2022 and the Sabah Amateur Open in Tawau last year. Can he make it three Sabah victories in three years? “I’m looking forward to it and yes, I will take out driver and go for the green on the 9th.”
Leading Rd 2 scores (Men)
139 Nasrullah Zulkifli 68-71
140 Fakhrul Akmal 70-70, Daeng Rahman 73-67
141 Paul San 70-71
142 Casper Loh 70-72, Amir Nazrin 68-74
143 Shahriffuddin Ariffin 73-70
144 Ben Leong 72-72
145 Malcolm Ting 74-71
Ladies
153 Geraldine Wong 77-76
157 Durriyah Damian 79-76
158 Aretha Pan 82-76