![\"Lin](\"images\/golf\/Lin-Wen-ko.jpg\")
Hsinchu, Chinese Taipei: Lin Wen-ko battled to a five-under-par 67 despite struggling with a hip injury to lead by four shots at the halfway stage of the Ambassador ADT on Friday.<\/p>\nHsinchu, Chinese Taipei: Lin Wen-ko battled to a five-under-par 67 despite struggling with a hip injury to lead by four shots at the halfway stage of the Ambassador ADT on Friday.<\/p>\n
The 41-year-old Lin felt discomfort in his left hip midway through the round but played through the pain barrier to return on a 12-under-par 132 total at the Hsin Feng Golf and Country Club, which is his home course.<\/p>\n
Itthipat Buranatanyarat of Thailand, ranked third on the Asian Development Tour (ADT) Order of Merit, produced a sparkling 66 to sit in second place while Hsu Hao-sheng of Chinese Taipei was a further shot back in third place at the US$120,000 ADT event.<\/p>\n
Lin Wen-tang of Chinese Taipei, fighting for a place in the Olympic, fired a 69 to make the weekend but Gavin Green of Malaysia who occupies the final and 60th position on the qualifying list to play in Rio in August missed the cut by one-shot.<\/p>\n
The halfway cut was set at one-over-par 145 with a total of 58 players qualifying for the final two rounds.<\/p>\n
Lin, the younger brother to Wen-tang and a former Taiwan Masters champion, took medication after 11 holes to ease the pain. An accident 10 years ago forced him to undergo a hip replacement surgery and he continues to feel slight pain occasionally.<\/p>\n
He was one-under through 12 holes but returned with four birdies in his closing six holes after taking medication to preserve his overnight lead.<\/p>\n
“I put a lot of pressure on my left hip because I’m trying to hit low shots in these windy conditions. It hurt during the round but I felt so much better after taking medication and enjoyed a nice finish,” said Lin.<\/p>\n
“You have to be patient here and I was. It is nice to be leading in a tournament especially on your home course. Obviously I have a nice lead now but it will be better if I extend that lead during the weekend,” he smiled.<\/p>\n
The 23-year-old Itthipat, a two-time ADT winner, recovered from an opening bogey with a 15-foot eagle putt on the 14th hole. He returned with five birdies after the turn which included two closing birdies to trail by four shots.<\/p>\n
“When I bogeyed the first hole, I didn’t think about it. I kept chasing for birdies. The eagle gave me the confidence for the remainder of the round. I don’t want to think about other players. When I play golf, I play for fun. I maintain a happy attitude and that works for me,” said the bubbly Thai.<\/p>\n
The staging of the Ambassador ADT, which is sponsored by the Yeangder Group, will provide an opportunity for the local golfers to stake a claim at the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro in August as the winner will receive six Official World Golf Ranking points.<\/p>\n
The ADT, which was inaugurated in 2010 as the gateway to the premier Asian Tour, will continue to reward the top-five finishers on the Order of Merit at the end of this season with Asian Tour cards for 2017.<\/p>\n
Leading second round scores: The 41-year-old Lin felt discomfort in his left hip midway through the round but played through the pain barrier to return on a 12-under-par 132 total at the Hsin Feng Golf and Country Club, which is his home course.<\/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":[16491,12943,16512,13325,16511,1568],"class_list":["post-27179","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-world-golf-news","tag-ambassador-adt","tag-golf-news","tag-hsu-hao-sheng","tag-itthipat-buranatanyarat","tag-lin-wen-ko","tag-lin-wen-tang"],"yoast_head":"\n
<\/strong>
132 – LIN Wen-ko (TWN) 65 67
136 – Itthipat BURANATANYARAT (THA) 70 66
137 – HSU Hao-sheng (TWN) 68 69
139 – LU Wei-chih (TWN) 71 68, Sam CYR (USA) 71 68, LU Wen-teh (TWN) 73 66
140 – CHEN Hao-sen (TWN) 72 68, Johannes VEERMAN (USA) 69 71, Paul HARRIS (USA) 70 70, Poom SAKSANSIN (THA) 71 69, TSENG Tzu Hsuan (TWN) 69 71, LEE Cho-chuan (TWN) 71 69, Donlaphatchai NIYOMCHON (THA) 72 68
141 – George GANDRANATA (INA) 74 67, CHAN Shih-chang (TWN) 70 71, CHANG Tse-peng (TWN) 73 68, Pannakorn UTHAIPAS (THA) 74 67, Feroz Singh GAREWAL (IND) 72 69
142 – FAN CHIANG Hao Chuan (TWN) 72 70, HUANG Tao (TWN) 72 70, HSIEH Chin-Sheng (TWN) 72 70, James BYRNE (SCO) 70 72, LEE Chieh-po (TWN) 72 70, HSU Mong-nan (TWN) 70 72
143 – HUNG Chien-yao (TWN) 75 68, K P LIN (TWN) 72 71, Rattanon WANNASRICHAN (THA) 71 72, Christopher CANNON (ENG) 69 74, Pijit PETCHKASEM (THA) 72 71, LIN Wen-tang (TWN) 74 69, Oscar ZETTERWALL (SWE) 73 70, Mathiam KEYSER (RSA) 71 72, Ben LEONG (MAS) 74 69, Pasamet POGAMNERD (THA) 73 70, WENG Young-tien (TWN) 69 74<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Hsinchu, Chinese Taipei: Lin Wen-ko battled to a five-under-par 67 despite struggling with a hip injury to lead by four shots at the halfway stage of the Ambassador ADT on Friday.<\/p>\n