Aug 29: American Charles Porter, measuring 6 feet 9 inches from head to toe, seems cut out for tall deeds, and he did not disappoint early on Friday of US$500,000 Mandiri Indonesia Open, jumping to the top of the leaderboard at 11-under par after a second-round six-under par 66.

The 26-year-old from San Francisco, California, who worked as a security guard on golf courses and retail stores before qualifying for the Korn Ferry Tour last season, will now have the arduous task of protecting his lead as he tries to make the most of his limited starts on the Asian Tour by virtue of finishing 33rd in the Qualifying School last year.

Thai stars Itthipat Buranatanyarat (67) and Tanapat Pichaikool (69) were in tied second place at 9-under.

Indonesia’s Naraajie Ramadhanputra provided the cheers for the home crowd as he fired a seven-under 65, the best round of Friday’s morning session, to jump to tied fourth place at eight-under, where he was joined by India’s Khalin Joshi (66), New Zealand’s Ryan Peake (69) and Thailand’s Rattanon Wannasrichan (68).

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

Porter 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.

However, coupled with his 67 on the opening day, that was enough for a two-shot lead at the halfway stage of the second round.

Porter, coming into the tournament on the back of some fine form after a top-five finish in last week’s Ciputra Golfpreneur Tournament, and Asian Development Tour event down the road at Damai Indah, made eight birdies, and two bogeys in his first nine holes.

“It was a good one. 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, number eighth, the par three, 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.

Itthipat Buranatanyarat of Thailand. Picture by Graham Uden/Asian Tour.

Pichaikool, who started the day in tied second place, retained the position at the end of his round with a 69, even though he squandered a great start of four straight birdies from the third to sixth holes with three bogeys in four holes around the turn.

Itthipat, who made seven birdies in his round, said: “It was a good round for me, but I missed a lot of short putts. But that’s okay… I like going to the top of the leaderboard, and I have done that. So, after this, I just want to play like I enjoy playing every day and execute the plan that I made after my practice rounds here.

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.”

Defending champion Steve Lewton, who was left frustrated by a late triple bogey on the par-four 16th hole on Thursday, shot a three-under 69 and had moved inside the cut-line.