Jakarta, Nov 29 (IANS): Thailand’s Prom Meesawat showed no signs of a hangover from a play-off defeat two weeks ago when he shot a second round five-under-par 66 at the weather-disrupted Indonesia Open here Friday.
The Thai, who lost to China’s Liang Wen-chong in a play-off in Manila, put himself in a strong position to win a second Asian Tour title since 2006 after compiling a nine-under-par 133 total at the Pantai Indah Kapuk course at the Damai Indah Golf.
Thai stars Thongchai Jaidee and Thaworn Wiratchant, both former Indonesia Open winners, fired a 67 and 64 respectively for identical 134s in the morning before play was abandoned due to lightning threats.
Two-time Major champion Retief Goosen of South Africa moved up the leaderboard with a 65 to tie with Mardan Mamat (69) on 137 at the $750,000 event.
Overnight leader Gaganjeet Bhullar of India played through 16 holes on -10 while playing partner Jazz Janewattananond of Thailand was on -9 with two more holes to play. They will return Saturday to complete the second round alongside 52 others.
Prom turned in one-over-par 37 but marked a sensational comeback when he chipped-in from 25-feet for birdie on hole two. He immediately holed four straight birdies and added another birdie on the eighth hole to set the clubhouse target.
“I played slight better because I could control the ball. The turning point came when birdied hole two because my confidence came back and I started sinking more birdies,” said the Thai.
Prom insists that he has erased the play-off defeat in Manila and is prepared to continue his title charge.
“I’ve forgotten about the Manila defeat. I’m just concentrating on this week. I finished the play-off in the Philippines and that was it for me. I have to move on from there,” added the 29-year-old.
Leaderboard:
133 - Prom MEESAWAT (THA) 67-66
134 - Thaworn WIRATCHANT (THA) 70-64, Thongchai JAIDEE (THA) 67-67, Chapchai NIRAT (THA) 67-67
136 - KIM Gi-whan (KOR) 68-68
137 - Retief GOOSEN (RSA) 72-65, Mardan MAMAT (SIN) 68 69
138 - David LUTTERUS (AUS) 69-69, Panuphol PITTAYARAT (THA) 70-68, CHAN Yih-shin (TPE) 71 67, S.S.P CHOWRASIA (IND) 72-66
139 - Antonio LASCUNA (PHI) 74-65, Anirban LAHIRI (IND) 71-68, Steve LEWTON (ENG) 71-68, Sam BRAZEL (AUS) 67-72, Jyoti RANDHAWA (IND) 69-70