Portrush, Northern Ireland, July 19: South Africa’s Justin Harding staged a remarkable comeback by firing a second round six-under-par 65 to head into the weekend in tied-fifth place at The 148th Open on Friday.

After enduring a topsy-turvy opening round where he signed for a 71, the two-time Asian Tour winner hauled himself back into contention by charging ahead with a birdie-four on the second hole. 

He dropped a shot on the fourth hole but soared back with an eagle-three on the par-five seven. After turning in 34, Harding then made three birdies in four holes before another bogey on 14 stopped him in his tracks momentarily.

The South African responded well with a pair of birdies on 15 and 16 before making pars on 17 and 18 to cap a memorable day at Royal Portrush where he is just two shots back of second round leaders, JB Holmes of the United States and Ireland’s Shane Lowry.

“It was a roller-coaster yesterday and I prefer not to have them. You really got to execute your plans well here. If not you’ll get into a lot of trouble. It starts immediately off the tee and you cannot be in the rough and certainly not in the bunkers. 

“I made some bad swings yesterday which was evident on my score card as I made a bunch of bogeys. But today I kept them off the card which was good. I managed to stay up straight in the bunker and was able to get in and out there without any problems today,” said the world number 50, who is also the highest ranked Asian Tour member on the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR).

Playing at The Open for the first time since his debut in 2013 where he missed the cut, Harding returns as a different player having won five events around the world since the start of the 2018 season, including his wins in Indonesia and Thailand on the Asian Tour and the 2019 Qatar Masters on the European Tour

“This morning was one of those days where I knew I had to go out and shoot a good number. Fortunately, the conditions were kind to us as the winds didn’t really get up that much.

“It was one of those days where you got to try to put yourself in a good position come the weekend and I’ve done that,” said Harding.

Harding will be joined by Korea’s Sanghyun Park, Thailand’s Kiradech Aphibarnrat, India’s Shubhankar Sharma and Japan’s Yosuke Asaji in the weekend rounds of the year’s fourth and final Major.

Kiradech safely made the cut by taking a share of 32nd place with Park, although he was not able to replicate his opening round efforts where he carded a 68. 

The 2013 Asian Tour Order of Merit champion felt let down by several misjudged shots he made especially on the par-fives and signed for a 73.

“I hit the ball well today but I made some poor decisions on the golf course today. I’ve been hitting my ball onto the middle of the fairways on the par-fives. They were all reachable but I still ended up with a two-over score which is disappointing.

“I will still try to go out there and play my best golf. There are still 36 more holes for me to grind it out and try to move back inside the top-50 in the world,” said Kiradech.  

Sharma, the reigning Asian Tour Order of Merit champion signed for a 72 for a tied-48th place while Asaji’s 143 total was just enough for him to make it through right on the bubble. 
 
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Portrush, Northern Ireland, July 19: Thailand’s Jazz Janewattananond believes he still has the game to compete at the highest level despite missing the cut for the second time at The 148th Open on Friday.

The current Asian Tour Order of Merit leader arrived at Royal Portrush on the back of a rich vein of form. 

After winning twice at the National Opens of Singapore and Korea this year, the Thai also enjoyed a commendable tied-14 place at the PGA Championship in May, which was also the best result by a Thai at that Major.

However, he struggled to find that winning form under the testing conditions at the Antrim Coast, signing for an opening three-over-par 74 before following up with a 73. 

“I was looking to mount a serious charge when I stepped up to the tee this morning but if you want to do that, you got to putt well, which I didn’t manage to do. 

“I still need to make lots of improvements to become a world class player but I believe I still have a chance to be up there,” said Jazz.

Jazz’s two-day total of five-over-par 147 meant he would not feature in the weekend rounds as the projected cut is likely to be set at one-over-par.

“It has been a good learning experience. I have made it to The Open twice already and I’ve learnt a lot about myself and my game. 

“I got better with my driving this year but my short game is still not quite there yet. Hopefully I can come back here stronger and play better next year,” said Jazz. 

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Portrush, Northern Ireland, July 19: India’s Shubhankar Sharma is hoping to find his form in putting again as he heads into the weekend rounds after signing for a one-over-par 72 in the second round of The 148th Open on Friday.

With his two-day total of even-par 142, the reigning Asian Tour Order of Merit champion is likely to have secured his place in the weekend rounds as the projected cut is set at one-over.

“I’ll need to do some putting as I wasn’t really rolling it the way I was yesterday on the back-nine. I was kind of tentative and didn’t really have the right speed on the greens. I’ve to work on that,” said Sharma.

Sharma started his round in tied-20th place after opening with a bogey-free 70. However, he dropped his first shot of the week at the par-four first hole. 

He recovered quickly with a birdie on the second hole but gave that shot back again with another bogey on the fourth hole.

The Indian then made successive birdies on holes six and seven but they were offset by bogeys on 12 and 14 before he closed his round with four straight pars starting from the 15th hole.

“It was just bad. On the first hole, I just pulled it and on the fourth, the wind just took it a little bit and went in the bunker. And on 12, I misjudged my shot and so I lost three shots there,” said Sharma.

The 22-year-old, who will be celebrating his birthday on Sunday, is looking forward to a restart where he can hopefully haul himself back into the mix again. 

“I was a little bit disappointed but I guess I can still be proud of how I played the last 36 holes. I was very calm on the course and I played decent golf. I hit a few shots which I didn’t want to and dropped a few shots on the back-nine which is all part of the game.

“I’m happy that I’ve secured my place in the weekend. I feel like I could have gone lower but there’s another 36 holes to go and I start on a clean slate again,” said Sharma. 

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Portrush, Northern Ireland, July 18: Thailand’s Kiradech Aphibarnrat will lead the Asian charge into the second round of The 148th Open after opening with a flawless three-under-par 68 at Royal Portrush on Thursday.

Despite nursing a knee injury, the 2013 Asian Tour Order of Merit champion showed he can still produce a worthy performance at the world’s oldest Major by taking a share of third place with 12 other players which also include Major winners like Spain’s Sergio Garcia and world number one Brooks Koepka of the United States.

“The knee’s still affecting the golf swing but I played really solid golf today as I managed to control my energy levels and pace myself really well today,” said Kiradech, who is making his sixth appearance at The Open.

Kiradech will start his second round two shots back of American leader JB Holmes, who overcame an opening bogey before firing six birdies to take the day’s honours with a 66.

“I’ve been practicing the last couple of weeks. I’ve been playing great. So actually I felt great and very confident coming in. I was hitting it great and I putted well. I wasn’t really surprised with today’s result. I mean, I played well,” said Holmes.

Korea’s Sanghyun Park, who missed the cut in his Carnoustie debut last year, showed early promise by signing for a 69 to end the day tied for 16th while India’s Shubhankar Sharma was pleased with his opening round efforts after posting a 70 to take a share of 20th place.

“It was a good day today. One-under is always a good start and I couldn’t have asked for more. The major takeaway from today was I managed to stay bogey-free as I made a few crucial par putts coming in especially the ones from 14 to 16,” said Sharma, the reigning Asian Tour Order of Merit champion.

Debutant Mikumu Horikawa of Japan along with South Africa’s Justin Harding signed for a 71 to share 42nd place while Thailand’s Gunn Charoenkul mixed his card with two bogeys and a birdie to take tied-54th place along with Yosuke Asaji of Japan.

Thailand’s Prom Messawat and South Africa’s Shaun Norris are a further shot back in a share of 72nd place after returning with matching 73s.

Americans Kurt Kitayama and David Lipsky together with Thailand’s Jazz Janewattanond and Korea’s Doyeob Mun struggled with their respective 74s while Australia’s Jake McLeod, Japan’s Yuta Ikeda and Korea’s Dongkyu Jang had a day to forget when they returned with matching 76s.

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Portrush, Northern Ireland, July 18: India’s Shubhankar Sharma was delighted to have passed his first round test after signing for a bogey-free one-under-par 70 at The 148th Open on Thursday.

Playing alongside world number one Brooks Koepka of the United States and 2010 champion Louis Oosthuizen of South Africa, the reigning Asian Tour Order of Merit champion showed he could match up to anyone on his day with his steady performance at Royal Portrush.

“It was a good day today. One-under is always a good start and I couldn’t have asked for more. The major takeaway from today was I managed to stay bogey-free as I made a few crucial par putts coming in especially the ones from 14 to 16,” said Sharma.

The Indian marked his card with 12 straight pars starting from the first hole before he finally sank a 30-feet putt for his first and only birdie of the day at the par-three 13.

He would go on to make pars on his last five holes before signing for a 70.

“It was not easy out there and I’m pleased with myself. In the beginning I was struggling with the lines and didn’t hole too many putts. But I found my rhythm on the back-nine and managed to play some steady golf from there,” said Sharma.

Sharma also had the opportunity to reminisce with Koepka about their time in India when they both played together during the final round of the Gujarat Kensville Challenge on the European Challenge Tour in 2013.

“It was really fun playing with Brooks. We spoke about his time in India and his rides in the tuk tuk. He was not so muscular back then and a lot has changed for us in our careers since then,” said Sharma.

Ends.

Portrush, Northern Ireland, July 18: Thailand’s Kiradech Aphibarnrat displayed no signs of injury concern as he fired his way towards the top of the leaderboard with a sparking three-under-par 68 after the first round of The 148th Open on Thursday.

While Kiradech admitted he could have done even better if he was fully fit, he was still pleased with his opening round efforts at Royal Portrush.

“The knee’s still affecting the golf swing but I played really solid golf today as I managed to control my energy levels and pace myself really well today.

“I’m not 100% fit yet and I don’t want to set any target. Overall it’s a good start and I just want to enjoy every moment at The Open as it is one of the best Majors in the world,” said Kiradech.

The world number 52, who is also the 2013 Asian Tour Order of Merit champion, got his Major campaign underway with a birdie in his second hole before carding seven straight pars to turn in 35.

Taking advantage of the favourable morning weather conditions, he then sank another birdie on the par-five 12 before closing in style by draining a monstrous birdie putt on 18 from 50 feet.

“The weather helped especially the first 14 holes. It got difficult when the winds picked up and it started to rain. But I put the ball in the right position the whole and only missed a couple of shots,” said Kiradech.

Looking ahead to the rest of the week, Kiradech knows he has to remain level-headed to stay in contention for his Major breakthrough this week.
 
“I don’t have a good track record in links golf. I don’t really want to force the issue and just want to go out there and enjoy myself. The plan is to keep the ball in play and under the wind,” said Kiradech, who has missed the cuts in four of his last five previous appearances at The Open.

Ends.

Portrush, Northern Ireland, July 17: 16 Asian Tour members are ready to hit their first tee shot and get their campaign started when The 148th Open gets underway at Royal Portrush on Thursday.

Thailand’s Kiradech Aphibarnrat will be the first to get things going for the Asian Tour as he tees off at 9.03am in the company of England’s Ian Poulter and Korea’s Sungjae Im.

Compatriot Prom Meesawat, who is making his return to the world’s oldest Major after an eight-year absence, will follow next when he steps up to the tee at 11.15am together with the English pair of Matthew Baldwin and Jack Senior.

American Kurt Kitayama and Australia’s Jake McLeod will tee off at 12.20pm with South Africa’s Erik Van Rooyen followed by South Africa’s Shaun Norris and Korea’s Dongkyu Jang as they go off at 12.31 pm together with New Zealand’s Ryan Fox.

In what is expected to be one of the most closely followed groups, Asia’s number one Shubhankar Sharma of India will start alongside world number one Brooks Koepka of the United States and 2010 champion Louis Oosthuizen at 1.04pm.

Current Asian Tour Order of Merit leader Jazz Janewattananond of Thailand, who missed the cut in his Carnoustie debut last year, will have another chance to redeem himself when he goes off at 1.15pm together with Billy Horschel and Aaron Wise of the United States.

David Lipsky, the 2014 Asian Tour Order of Merit winner, will then tee off at 1.37pm together with Australia’s Cameron Smith and Canada’s Adam Hadwin while South Africa’s Justin Harding has the company of Scotland’s Paul Lawrie and American Chez Reavie at 1.48pm.

The opening day’s final four groups will feature Japan’s Yuta Ikeda with Mexico’s Isidro Benitez and Spain’s Adrian Otaegui at 3.43pm, followed by Korea’s Sanghyun Park with Patton Kizzire and Japan’s Yuki Inamori at 3.54pm.

Korea’s Doyeob Mun, who is making his first ever Major appearance, will start at 4.05pm with England’s Andrew Wilson and Japan’s Yoshinori Fujimoto before the day’s proceeding concludes with Thailand’s Gunn Charoenkul and Japan’s Yosuke Asaji teeing off at 4.16pm together with England’s Ashton Turner.

Francesco Molinari, who became the first Italian to win a Major when he won The Open at Carnoustie last year, will begin his defence alongside Bryson DeChambeau and Adam Scott at 9.58am.

“It would be incredible to be able to hold the Claret jug again on Sunday. But I’m well aware of the challenges ahead.

“There’s a lot of guys capable this week of winning the trophy. And all I can do is do my best, try to put up a good defense and be in contention again on Sunday,” said the defending champion.

Ends.

Portrush, Northern Ireland, July 17: Thailand’s Gunn Charoenkul is ecstatic to find himself in company of many of the world’s best players after fulfilling his life-long dream of playing in a Major.

Charoenkul, who regained his Asian Tour card by finishing second at Qualifying School last December, booked his place at The 148th Open after securing a tied-third result at the Mizuno Open, which was part of The Open Qualifying Series on the Japan Golf Tour.  

It has always been a dream for the 27-year-old Thai to compete against the best players in the world and having sealed his passage to Royal Portrush, Gunn is now looking forward to a brand new experience at the year’s fourth and final Major.

“This is a dream come true for me. Of all the four Majors, I like the Masters and The Open. This is my first time playing in a Major and I’m just trying to take in all the positive vibes and enjoy the experience. 

“I’m going to be playing in front of the biggest and best crowd in my entire career this week and I just want to take it all in.,” said Gunn, who has recorded 11 top-10s in 16 events across five different tours.

Gunn has not set any expectations for himself this week as his goal is to soak up the experience while hoping to calm his nerves when he steps up to the tee tomorrow.

“When I was playing my practice rounds, I was really nervous as I didn’t want to shank the ball into the grandstands where the crowd was. Even though I managed to hit it onto the fairways, I was still feeling very nervous,” said Gunn.

Being at The 148th Open has also changed much of Gunn’s outlook in life as he now hopes to take his game to the next level. 

“For a long time, I have never really appreciated anything that came into my life until I was given a reality check when I was told, hey many people would take this position you are in.

To become a world-class player is going to be the next step. I got better but to be consistently good all the time is very difficult. But that’s what I’ll be been seeking to do from here,” said Gunn. 

Gunn is part of the Thai quartet teeing up at The 148th Open this week. The others are Kiradech Aphibarnrat, Jazz Janewattananond and Prom Meesawat.

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Portrush, Northern Ireland, July 16: Reigning Asian Tour Order of Merit champion Shubhankar Sharma of India will get another opportunity to play alongside world number one Brooks Koepka of the United States after being paired together in the opening round of The 148th Open which starts on Thursday.

Together with 2010 Open champion Louis Oosthuizen of South Africa, the trio will tee off at 1.04pm (local time) at the Royal Portrush as they commence their quest of lifting the iconic Claret Jug at the year’s final Major.

Sharma was only 16 and playing in his first professional event when he was paired with Koepka in the final round of the Gujarat Kensville Challenge on the European Challenge Tour in 2013.

Although they did not win that event, both have since gone on to enjoy tremendous success and are expected to draw a huge crowd when they play together again this week.

“Brooks is the world number one and I’ve played with him before in India. He came for the Challenge Tour event in 2013 and I’m looking forward to playing with him again.

“Obviously there’s going to be a lot of people following us and hopefully more people back home in India will watch it too. It’s always going to be fun playing with the Major champions,” said Sharma.

Kopeka also believes it will be an enjoyable opening round as he gets to meet Sharma again after six long years.

“It was a long time ago. I haven’t spoken to him since then. It will be fun to play with him again,” said the world number one.

Sharma finished tied-51st in his Carnoustie debut last year and with his birthday falling on Sunday this week, he is hoping for an even more special celebration.

“Last year was obviously very special as I made the cut and celebrated my birthday on the third day. This time, it’ll be on the fourth day so hopefully I can make it even more special.

2018 was a standout year for Sharma who captured his second Asian Tour title at the Maybank Championship before going on to become the youngest Indian to play in all four Major Championships.

Apart from his Order of Merit win, the Indian was also conferred the prestigious Arjuna Award back home and named as the European Tour Rookie of the Year.

“It’s always tough to follow up with a good year. But I’ve made some good progress and I’m looking forward to a good spell starting with The Open this week,” said Sharma.

Ends.