Jakarta: Overnight leader George Gandranata of Indonesia hogged the limelight for the second day after shooting a flawless three-under-par 68 to lead at the halfway stage of the inaugural Linc Group Jakarta Invitational on Thursday.<\/p>\n
The promising talent totalled eight-under-par 134 for a one-shot lead over Thailand\u2019s Pavit Tangkamolprasert, who returned with the day\u2019s lowest score of 66, at the US$60,000 Asian Development Tour (ADT) event, which is the season finale for the 2013 ADT schedule.<\/p>\n
Australian Jack Munro and Japanese Mitushiko Hashizume posted identical 70s to share third place while Chinese Taipei\u2019s Chan Shih-chang battled to a 68 for fourth at the Jababeka Golf and Country Club.<\/p>\n
England\u2019s Grant Jackson, who is fighting to get into top four on the ADT Order of Merit to earn his 2014 Asian Tour card, signed for a 72 to tie for sixth alongside Indonesia\u2019s highest ranked golfer, Rory Hie on 141.<\/p>\n
James Bowen of the United States, Malaysia\u2019s Iain Steel and Canadian Lindsay Renolds, who are fighting to earn an Asian Tour card by finishing as the top-four players on the 2013 ADT Order of Merit, were placed in tied-ninth, tied-34th and tied-42nd respectively.<\/p>\n
The 27-year-old Gandranata was delighted to stay on track for his first ADT victory after shooting three birdies. <\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t hit it as well as I did yesterday but I had a good start. I am pretty pleased with my game today. The course is not playing easy. A mistake out there can change anything. I\u2019ve got a plan on how to attack this golf course. I\u2019ll stick to it for the next two rounds and we will see how it goes,\u201d said Gandranata, who has been playing on the ADT regularly since turning professional in 2012.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile Pavit charged into contention after chipping in for eagle from 84 yards on the 16th hole to stay one shot back from the leader.<\/p>\n
\u201cI felt like I was on fire after that eagle and I moved on to make a birdie on the 17th,\u201d said smiled the 24-year-old Thai, who claimed three top-five finishes on the ADT in 2013.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe weather is hot and the greens are tough out there. I had to work on my mental game. My season was not bad last year. The three top-five finishes gave me a lot of confidence in my game,\u201d added Pavit.<\/p>\n
Renolds, ranked fourth on the Order of Merit, hopes to overcome a nerve-wracking week as Jackson could very well overtake him on the Merit list should the Englishman win this week.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo be honest, I\u2019m playing terrible. I really need to get my form going right now. We still have two days to go so hopefully I can turn things around. I would be lying to you if I say I\u2019m not thinking about keeping my Asian Tour card for 2014. Grant (Jackson) is playing very well. Hopefully I can put something together,\u201d said the Phuket-based Renolds, who has eight top-10 finishes on the ADT in 2013.<\/p>\n
The halfway cut was set at 12-over-par 154 with 58 players advancing to the final two rounds.<\/p>\n
With current number one Nicholas Fung of Malaysia having already secured his Asian Tour card through the Asian Tour\u2019s Order of Merit, the next best three players on the ADT rankings will be \u2018promoted\u2019 after this week\u2019s final tournament.<\/p>\n
The winner of the Linc Group Jakarta Invitational will take home a prize purse of US$10,500 and receive six Official World Golf Ranking points. The top six players and ties will also earn points based on a sliding scale.<\/p>\n
The ADT was launched in 2010 with five tournaments before growing to eight in 2011 and 13 in 2012. This week\u2019s final event will be the 16th leg of the season.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Jakarta: Overnight leader George Gandranata of Indonesia hogged the limelight for the second day after shooting a flawless three-under-par 68 to lead at the halfway stage of the inaugural Linc Group Jakarta Invitational on Thursday.<\/p>\n
The promising talent totalled eight-under-par 134 for a one-shot lead over Thailand\u2019s Pavit Tangkamolprasert, who returned with the day\u2019s lowest score of 66, at the US$60,000 Asian Development Tour (ADT) event, which is the season finale for the 2013 ADT schedule.<\/p>\n
Australian Jack Munro and Japanese Mitushiko Hashizume posted identical 70s to share third place while Chinese Taipei\u2019s Chan Shih-chang battled to a 68 for fourth at the Jababeka Golf and Country Club.<\/p>\n
England\u2019s Grant Jackson, who is fighting to get into top four on the ADT Order of Merit to earn his 2014 Asian Tour card, signed for a 72 to tie for sixth alongside Indonesia\u2019s highest ranked golfer, Rory Hie on 141.<\/p>\n
James Bowen of the United States, Malaysia\u2019s Iain Steel and Canadian Lindsay Renolds, who are fighting to earn an Asian Tour card by finishing as the top-four players on the 2013 ADT Order of Merit, were placed in tied-ninth, tied-34th and tied-42nd respectively.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18424","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-world-golf-news"],"yoast_head":"\n