Singapore's Lam Zhiqun leads way at halfway stage of Asian Amateur

 

Lam Zhiqun from Singapore held the home challenge at bay to take a one-shot lead after 36 holes at the Asian Amateur Championship in Japan after finishing day two (Friday) on seven-under 135 at Kasumigaseki Country Club in Kawagoe City.

The 21-year-old, who fired a sparkling round of 66 over the West Course today, holds a one-stroke advantage over Japan’s Yosuke Asaji, the overnight leader, with another Japanese, Hideki Matsuyama, a further shot behind alongside Lee Kyung-hoon of Korea on five-under 137.

An invitation to the 2011 Masters Tournament awaits the champion this week, with both the winner and the runner(s)-up earning places in International Final Qualifying for The Open Championship being played next year at Royal St George’s Golf Club.

Lam, the 2007 Singapore Amateur Champion, posted a bogey-free round that included birdies on the second and eighth holes, before he picked up further shots at 10 and 11. He finished in fine style by holing a 12-foot birdie putt at the 18th to take the outright lead.

Said Lam: “I played well today and holed a few putts which made the difference, so I am very happy to be seven-under after two days. Yesterday I was hitting the ball really solidly and I carried that over to today.

“I am trying not to think about the rewards that come with this event. I am sure it will pop into my head from time to time, but I will just have to wait and see what happens come the 72nd hole on Sunday,” said Lam, who was a junior international swimmer for Singapore before quitting and taking up golf at the age of 12.

A two-under-par round of 69 for Japan’s Asaji ensured he remains near the top of the leaderboard going into the weekend. Starting from the 10th tee, Asaji made his first bogey of the week on the 479-yard, par-four 13th hole. However, that would be the only blot on his card, as he went on to make three birdies and reach a tournament total of six-under-par 136.

“I played pretty well today, but I wasn’t striking my irons quite so well,” he explained. “But six under is a very satisfactory score and I got close to the pins on enough occasions to make a few birdies today, so that’s good, too. Tomorrow, I’m going to be aggressive and improve my score.”

A four-under 67 saw Korea’s Lee surge into a share of third place with Hideki Matsuyama, whose solid 69, which included a streak of four birdies in five holes from the 14th, built on yesterday’s opening 68.

“Today I putted really well,” said Lee. “I was picking the lines well and my judgement of pace was good. Being two strokes off the lead means that I’ve put myself in position to perhaps take the lead tomorrow, and maybe go on to win the championship.”

The Australian duo of Tarquin MacManus (67) and Kieran Pratt (68) also brought themselves into contention with impressive performances today.

Said MacManus: “I played pretty well. It was a slow start, but I made eagle on 10 after hitting my three-wood to about eight feet, then birdies on 15 and 16. I left a couple out there, but it was pretty good,” he said. “It's just a case of playing one shot at a time, like I’ve been doing so far, so I’ll just get out there and see what happens.”

A total of 64 players from the original field of 118 made the cut which came after today’s second round.

Tokyo Broadcasting System is producing the world feed for this week’s championship, which is being distributed in high-definition to more than 150 countries via ESPN STAR Sports (Asia), ONE HD (Australia), TSN (Canada), ESPN Latin America, Fox Sports (Middle East), Sky Sports (New Zealand) and ESPN2 (United States).

Earlier in the year it was announced that Samsung and Japan Airlines would join the 2010 event as ‘Proud Partners’. The support of Samsung and JAL complements that of IBM, KFC, Rolex and Zurich, all of whom also backed the inaugural championship in 2009.