Paul San is in the driver’s seat and looking forward to his first Toyota Tour victory. But the leader after two rounds in the Vios Cup at Templer Park Country Club chooses to focus on his personal goals.
San is one stroke ahead of Afif Fathi, Malcolm Ting and amateur Anson Yeo as they go into tomorrow’s final round on a course that has been set up with tough but fair pin positions compounded by hot, humid and windy conditions.
Afif Fathi
Coming off four weeks of competition, San is obviously pleased with where he is at now but confides that his goal is to try and play another solid round of golf. “There aren’t many scoring holes at Templer’s so I just had to stay controlled and keeping my body hydrated.
“Whatever happens, will happen and hopefully I’ll be able to regain the focus I had when I won my first pro tournament at Glenmarie two years ago.”
Fifty players made the cut which was set at nine-over while only seven in the field managed to shoot below par. In the Ladies Championship, amateur Ng Jing Xuen leads by a stroke after carving out an even par 72 for a 146 two-day aggregate. Bunched in second are Aretha Pan, Geraldine Wong, amateur Tan Ying Ying and defending champion Jocelyn Chee.
Afif has sights on back-to-back victories after winning the PGAM satellite tour event last week. Despite struggling a bit around the greens, he felt that his irons were solid all-round. “I’ve been working closely with coach Lim Siew Ai and my mental coach Marcus Lim for a couple of months and we’ve been a great team so far. They are able to show me how to tackle my weaknesses.
“I feel good about where my game is heading and with this confidence going into the final round tomorrow I might stand a chance,” said Afif. “I’ll just focus on what I can do and pray for the best.”
First round leader Ervin Chang tumbled down the board when he carded a five-over 77 and lies in joint 11th place – five strokes behind leader San. Kemarol Baharin, who was joint leader with Chang, is in touch with the leaders despite a two-over 74 today. He’s just two behind San.
Leading Men’s Rd 2 scores
140 Paul San 72-68
141 Afif Fathi 71-70, Anson Yeo (am) 70-71, Malcolm Ting 71-70
142 Kemarol Baharin 68-74
143 M Sasidaran 70-73, Amir Nazrin 74-69, Shahriffuddin Ariffin 69-74, Jaydon Pang 72-71
144 Danny Chia 72-72
145 Fakhrul Akmal 73-72, Ervin Chang 68-77, Daeng Rahman 72-73
Amateur Ng Jing Xuen leads by a stroke in the ladies championship
Ladies
146 Ng Jing Xuen (am) 74-72
147 Aretha Pan 74-73, Geraldine Wong 72-75, Tan Ying Ying (am) 73-74, Jocelyn Chee 74-73
151 Alya Afza Hazari (am) 75-76
