Malacca, Malaysia: Asian Development Tour (ADT) Order of Merit leader Casey O’Toole carded a second consecutive five-under-par 67 to grab the halfway lead by two shots at the PGM Tiara Championship on Thursday.<\/p>\n
The 25-year-old American, who has secured eight top-10s so far this season, edged closer towards a maiden victory after he fired one eagle and four birdies against a lone bogey for a 10-under-par 134 total at the Tiara Melaka Golf and Country Club.<\/p>\n
Overnight leader Mars Pucay of the Philippines battled to a 70 to share second place with American Sejun Yoon, who returned with the day’s best score of 64 at the RM200,000 (approx. US$50,000) ADT event.<\/p>\n
Finland’s Janne Kaske, who secured his first ADT win in May, stayed a further two shots back in fourth place following a 68 while Wisut Artjanawat of Thailand posted a 70 to take fifth on 139.<\/p>\n
Lim Eng Seng (69) emerged as the highest placed Malaysian in tied-sixth position on 140 with Indonesian Andrew Wirawan (72) at the PGM Tiara Championship, which is the 25th leg of the ADT schedule this season.<\/p>\n
O’Toole, one of the most consistent players on the region’s burgeoning Tour, hopes to stay true to his form as he remains patient for a breakthrough victory.<\/p>\n
“I have played well all year and I really don’t think about winning too much. I just want to play my game and I believe it will happen when it is supposed to.<\/p>\n
“I need to drive the ball a bit better on the weekend and just keep giving myself a lot of chances. I just need to play my own game in the next two rounds,” said O’Toole, who hails from Alabama.<\/p>\n
Starting from the 10th hole, O’Toole traded three birdies against a bogey to turn in 34. He marked a flawless homeward nine with another birdie on the second and made an eagle on the seventh hole for the second straight time this week.<\/p>\n
“I hit a really nice drive today on the seventh and only had a mid-iron in. I sank a 30-footer for eagle on that hole for both days. I made a few putts from mid-range today in the middle of my round which really kept me going,” O’Toole added.<\/p>\n
The halfway cut was set at eight-over-par 152 with a total of 55 players progressing into the final two rounds.<\/p>\n
With only three events left to play this season, players will have all to play for as they vie to finish inside top-five on the Order of Merit at the end of the season to secure their playing rights on the Asian Tour in 2016.<\/p>\n
With the Olympic Games looming in 2016 where golf will be reintroduced as a medal sport, players in the region could earn their spots in Rio de Janeiro by earning OWGR points through the Asian Tour and ADT.<\/p>\n
The ADT is celebrating its sixth season where it has grown immensely from five events in the first year in 2010 to a record 27 tournaments in 2015.<\/p>\n
For more information on the ADT, please visit www.asiandevelopmenttour.com<\/strong><\/p>\n Leading second round scores:<\/strong><\/p>\n 134 – Casey O’TOLE (USA) 67-67<\/p>\n 136 – Mars PUCAY (PHI) 66-70, Sejun YOON (USA) 72-64<\/p>\n 138 – Janne KASKE (FIN) 70-68<\/p>\n 139 – Wisut ARTJANAWAT (THA) 69-70<\/p>\n 140 – LIM Eng Seng (MAS) 71-69, Andrew WIRAWAN (INA) 68-72<\/p>\n 141 – Supravee PHATAM (THA) 71-70, Jordan SHERRATT (AUS) 74-67<\/p>\n 142 – Nirun SAE_UENG (THA) 73-69, Shaaban HUSSIN (MAS) 73-69, Airil Rizman ZAHARI (MAS) 69-73<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Malacca, Malaysia: Asian Development Tour (ADT) Order of Merit leader Casey O’Toole carded a second consecutive five-under-par 67 to grab the halfway lead by two shots at the PGM Tiara Championship on Thursday.<\/p>\n The 25-year-old American, who has secured eight top-10s so far this season, edged closer towards a maiden victory after he fired one eagle and four birdies against a lone bogey for a 10-under-par 134 total at the Tiara Melaka Golf and Country Club.<\/p>\n Overnight leader Mars Pucay of the Philippines battled to a 70 to share second place with American Sejun Yoon, who returned with the day’s best score of 64 at the RM200,000 (approx. US$50,000) ADT event.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[12221,12220,12222,12214,12215],"class_list":["post-23976","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-world-golf-news","tag-asian-development-tour-adt-order-of-merit","tag-casey-otoole","tag-janne-kaske","tag-mars-pucay","tag-pgm-tiara-championship"],"yoast_head":"\n