Anson Yeo seized the lead after the second round of the men’s inaugural Johor Open golf championship at Horizon Hills Golf & Country Club in Iskandar Puteri, Johor Bahru, today, while Ng Jing Xuen extended her lead in the women’s tournament.
On a course that again played tough, even without rain, Yeo, a plus-one handicapper, carded a five-over 77 to finish with a seven-over 155 total and a one-shot cushion over Maxwin Chiew Jian Weng, who made up ground with three-over 75. In the first round, which was interrupted by afternoon rain, Maxwin, playing off a handicap of one, carded a five-over 77.
Wan Danial Hafiz (2) and Aqil Afiq Rosli (scratch) were joint third on 153, a stroke further back. Mohd Shakiran Johari (2) shot a 79 today and tied with first-round leader Neil Bainon (0) yet another shot adrift on 154 to round off the top-five.
Ng Jing Xuen leads in the women’s category
In the women’s championship, Ng, affectionately known as JX, playing off a plus-2, battled to a five-over 77 to settle for an eight-over 152 total and a four-shot lead over Charlayne Chong Shin Ling (plus-1), picking up one more shot on the field.
The leader had one birdie and two bogeys on the front nine before giving another four shots back to the course via one birdie, two bogeys, and a triple-bogey on the inward nine.
Lamenting the triple bogey at the par-4 11th, Ng said, “I drove the ball into the penalty hazard and then found a greenside bunker after that to make things worse. But other than that, I thought I played reasonably well because this course was very tough.
“With one final round to go, I’ll stick to my game and maybe pay more attention to where you want to be when approaching the green. I felt I missed a few opportunities with my approaches, and I’ll spend some time at the range today before going back and working on those approach shots.”
Leading Scores after round two
Men
151 Anson Yeo 74-77
152 Maxwin Chiew Jian Weng 77-75
153 Wan Danial Hafiz 78-75
153 Aqil Afiq Rosli 75-78
154 Mohd Shakiran Johari 75-79
154 Neil Bainon 72-82
155 Sean Lee 77-78
155 Irfan Syahmi Norshaharudin 76-79
155 Muhammad Farez Mohd Azihan 76-79
157 Muhammad Adlan Mohamed Nizam 81-76
Women
152 Ng Jing Xuen 75-77
156 Charlayne Chong Shin Ling 80-76
159 Pang Hee Jie 83-76
161 Sohniya A/P Chandra Mohan 82-79
163 Ngo Yi Belle 83-80
166 Wang Enxi 86-80
168 Siti Nurfarah Fasha 86-82
176 Passion Hsu 88-88
183 Mavis Chua 96-87
184 Kim Jie Hyun 95-89
