Aug 29: A round of 62 last week in the Asian Development Tour was just the tonic Shahriffuddin Ariffin needed as the Malaysian built on the confidence and raced to a solo lead at the halfway stage of the US$500,000 Mandiri Indonesia Open with a second round that contained two eagles on Friday.

At the Pondok Indah Golf Club course in Jakarta, the Malaysian holed his second shot from 107 yards on the par-four 15th hole for an eagle two, and then made another in a more conventional fashion on the par-five 18th. Four other birdies in the bogey-free round gave him a second-round eight-under par 64 – best score of the day.

Play was suspended because of a lightning threat. Eight groups (24 players) were still to finish and will resume their round on Saturday morning. The projected cut is at three-under par.

Ariffin moved to 13-under par total and held a slender one-shot lead over Thailand’s Suteepat Prateeptienchai, who returned a second successive card of 66. America’s 6 feet, 9 inches tall Charles Porter also shot a 66 to move up to solo third place at 11-under. Australian Travis Smyth (65) was alone in fourth position at 10-under.

Suteepat Prateeptienchai of Thailand. Picture by Graham Uden/Asian Tour.

Thai stars Itthipat Buranatanyarat (67) and Tanapat Pichaikool (69) were tied fifth at nine-under, where they were joined later in the day by American MJ Maguire (68).

Indonesia’s Naraajie Ramadhanputra provided the cheers for the home crowd with a 65, the best round of the morning session, to jump to tied eighth place at eight-under.

Last Sunday, Ariffin made 11 birdies as he surged to a tied third place in the Ciputra Golfpreneur Tournament at the nearby Damai Indah Golf course. The two-time ADT champion, who is searching for his maiden win on the Asian Tour, is feeding off that performance and benefiting from some recent changes he has made in his game.

“I’m happy with today’s play. My confidence level is high after I shot that 62 at Damai Indah. And I just kept telling myself that I should just enjoy my game and there was no need to chase the leader. Just play my own game, keep up the momentum and enjoy the golf course,” said Ariffin, whose other eagle on the 18th hole came following a 5-iron second shot to 15 feet.

“My coach, Zafran (Abdullah), just changed my technique a little bit with some swing drill. He also did a few things with my putting stroke. I was struggling with my putter as I had the yips. A few small things and then I just went and shot a 62.”

Charles Porter of USA. Picture by Graham Uden/Asian Tour.

Suteepat, who is now bogey-free for 36 holes, looked like running away from the field with five consecutive birdies from the second hole onwards. But once that run ended, his sixth and final birdie only came on the 18th hole.

Explaining the two nines, the three-time Asian Tour champion said: “The front nine, my tee shots were really good, which is something you need on this narrow course. I think the tee shot is the key, and I executed my plans well. But, on the back nine, I had a little trouble and was lucky not to make a bogey.”

Porter, the 26-year-old from San Francisco, who worked as a security guard on golf courses and retail stores before qualifying for the Korn Ferry Tour last season, had a chance to finish with four birdies in a row, but after draining three long putts, including one on the tough par-three eighth hole, he fluffed his chip from thick greenside rough on the ninth.

“It was a good round. We had a really good group, with Settee (Prakongvech). I just stayed super patient. Made a couple of bogeys, but just kind of shrugged it off and continued,” said Porter, who had three top-20s in the Korn Ferry Tour last year, but was unable to keep his card.

“I’d say my second-last hole, the par-three eighth, was the best birdie. That hole is a beast. I hit it to like 20 feet with a five iron and then canned a double breaker for birdie.”

Naraajie Ramadhanputra of Indonesia. Picture by Graham Uden/Asian Tour.

Naraajie, 25, started with a bogey on the 10th hole, and turbo-charged his round with five birdies in a row from the 17th to third holes.

“It was a slow start in the beginning, made a bogey on my first hole. Then, just tried to wait for the birdies and made five in a row from the 17th. Just kept going after that and hit a lot of good shots,” said Naraajie, winner of three titles on the ADT, whose best finish on the Asian Tour is a fourth place at this tournament in 2019 as a 19-year-old.

“My ball striking is pretty good this week. I hit a lot of close shots inside 10-12 feet, and my putting is also good.

“It means a lot to be playing in the Mandiri Indonesia Open, especially since this is my National Open. Hopefully, just do the same thing for the next two days, keep doing my process, keep doing my pre-shot routine, and then we will see what happens on the last day.”