David Puig took a stranglehold of the US$2 million International Series Singapore today after carding a second-round six-under-par 66 today to take the lead on 14-under.
The 21-year-old Spaniard has a commanding six-stroke lead over Korean Jaewoong Eom, who returned a 67 – in the seventh International Series event of the season.
Related: Prolific David Puig turns on the heat again in Singapore
Australian Jack Thompson, this year’s Qualifying School winner, shot a 68 and is a further shot behind, while Hong Kong’s Taichi Kho (67) and Austrian Bernd Wiesberger (69s) are in group of nine players tied for fourth, another stroke back.
Puig has been knocking on the door of a first Asian Tour victory since turning professional just over a year ago and looks like having his best chance this week.
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He started the day with a three-shot lead after a sublime 64 yesterday and boarded the birdie train again today making light work of the formidable Tampines Course here at Tanah Merah Country Club.
He started on 10 with a bogey but bounced back with birdies on 11, 14, 15 and 17 and swept through the second half with four more birdies, including on the last, and one dropped shot.
“Two awesome days. Played very good,” said Puig, pronounced ‘P-w-ee-g’.
“I think I even played better today than I did yesterday. You know, it was pretty hot at the end, and I had a couple bad shots on holes seven and eight to finish, but overall, very happy.”
This is not the first time he has been out in front on the Asian Tour: he led after three rounds of the International Series Morocco last year, in his first event on Tour, before finishing third, and he had a three-shot margin after two rounds of the St Andrews Championship in August but ended in a tie for fourth.
About those performances he said: “It’s experience you know, and kind of learning from the past. I mean, I think I already learned a lot in this last month, on seven for example, or eighth, I hit a couple bad shots and instead of trying to be a hero and try to even make birdie or par, where sometimes you make like six or seven, I played steady and had two fives. I knew I was going to get two fives, but you know, I think I’m ready.”
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He has also been competing full-time on the LIV Golf League playing for Torque GC – the dominant team this season, having won four times. His best finish individually came in Chicago in August when he was fourth and next week he heads to LIV Golf Jeddah.
His six-shot advantage is still some way short of the Asian Tour’s record after two rounds. England’s Lee Westwood holds that as he had an 11-stroke lead at the 2011 Thailand Golf Championship.
Eom, who shone in the New Zealand Open earlier in the year when he finished in a tie for second, made five birdies and was one of the few players to go bogey free.
“I think everything was good today, from tee shots to iron-play to putting,” said the Korean, who as well as being a fine golfer, also speaks Mandarin fluently.
“Everything was good, and I am pleased with the way I played. This is actually my first time in Singapore. The golf course looks great and the greens are in good conditions. It was really hot out there. That’s the toughest part. I’m not used to playing in this heat. We never get this in Korea.”
Kho is clearly still on a high after claiming the gold medal at the Asian Games last week in China and shot up the leaderboard making six birdies before dropping his only shot of the day on the last.
He said: “I felt like I had some issues with strategy and bit of focus yesterday, but I was able to clean that up really nicely, so I was able to attack the golf course like I thought I could. And overall, a really good day.”
The 22-year-old made history in March by becoming the first player from Hong Kong to win an Asian Tour event after he recorded a hugely popular and significant victory at the inaugural World City Championship presented by the Hong Kong Golf Club.
“I think I have a mixture of confidence and a little bit of fatigue, but I feel like it almost works to my advantage because I’m just out here playing golf,” said Kho, who finished 27 under at the Asian Games.
“And that’s all it really feels like, there’s no added pressure or anything like that. So, yeah, overall, I’m just trying to play golf and just try to get a little bit better this week. But other than that, there’s a lot of confidence from my ability to go low from the previous week, and hopefully that can help me this week and in the future as well.”
