A back-nine 32 gave Korea’s Dongha Lee the outright clubhouse lead as he signed for a second round 67 to seize a one-shot advantage over Malcolm Kokocinski of Sweden at the weather-disrupted Sabah Masters.
Lee, who has been grappling with limited playing rights on the Asian Tour this season after missing out at Qualifying School last December, found some form to put himself in contention for a first professional title at Sutera Harbour Golf & Country Club in Kota Kinabalu.
The 36-year-old Korean started his round with a birdie on the 10 before dropping a shot on 17 to turn in 35. He would return home with four birdies in five holes from the third to take his place atop the leaderboard with a two-day total of seven-under-par 135.
Kokocinski, who opened his campaign with a 69, nailed two birdies in his closing three holes on to match Lee’s efforts of the day with a 67 while newly-minted winner Joohyung Kim of Korea battled to a 70 to settle two shots back on 137 alongside Aaron Wilkin of Australia.
Malaysia’s Shahriffuddin Ariffin was among those who managed to complete their rounds, signing in an excellent 65 to move up the leaderboard into T14 place on four-under-par.
A total of 53 players from the afternoon session did not manage to complete their second round on Friday as play was suspended at 3.29pm local time due to lightning threats before officials decided to call it a day at 4.49pm due to persistent rain.
Overnight co-leader Phachara Khongwatmai of Thailand fired five birdies through 14 holes to move to 10-under total. Chinese Taipei’s Wang Wei-lun got off to a hot start with four straight birdies in his opening five holes to trail Phachara by one with seven holes left to play.
The second round of the Sabah Masters is set to resume at 7.00am on Saturday with the third round scheduled to start not earlier than 10.00am. The halfway cut is projected to be at one-over-par 143 with the leading 65 players and ties progressing into the weekend rounds.
The US$300,000 Sabah Masters, supported by the Tourism Malaysia, is the ninth full-fiend event on the 2019 Asian Tour schedule.
Leading Completed Round 2 Scores:
135 – Dongha Lee #562 (KOR) 68-67.
136 – Malcolm Kokocinski (SWE) 69-67.
137 – Joohyung Kim (KOR) 67-70, Aaron Wilkin (AUS) 66-71.
138 – Shahriffuddin Ariffin (MAS) 73-65, Chapchai Nirat (THA) 70-68.
139 – Danthai Boonma (THA) 73-66, Brian Jung (CAN) 73-66, Panuphol Pittayarat (THA) 68-71, Pavit Tangkamolprasert (THA) 73-66, Josh Salah (USA) 68-71, Jack Murdoch (AUS) 70-69.
