China’s rookie professional Sampson Zheng showed just why he is so highly regarded today when he fired a bogey-free eight-under-par 63 to charge into the second-round lead at the US$500,000 Mandiri Indonesia Open.
Related: Aaron Wilkin breaks 30-year course record to lead in Indonesia
After his opening day 65, it means he is 14-under for the Asian Tour event, with a healthy four-shot cushion over first-round leader Aaron Wilkin from Australia.
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Wilkin, who broke the course record yesterday with a phenomenal 61, returned a 71, and is two in front of Sarit Suwannarut from Thailand, China’s Liu Yanwei and Malaysian Ervin Chang, who all carded 66s, plus England’s Steve Lewton, who was joint second last year and came in with a 67.
The tournament is being played at Damai Indah Golf – PIK Course for the first time in 10 years.
Zheng, aged 23 and a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley, is playing in just his third Asian Tour event as a professional having turned professional earlier this year.
He tied for fourth in the International Series England three weeks ago and despite now being on the other side of the world is clearly still bang in form.
“You know, coming into the round today, I just wanted to repeat what I did yesterday, and I did two better. So, yeah, feels great,” said Zheng, who is playing in Indonesia for the first time and arrived last Friday in order to fully prepare.
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Of his transition to the play for pay game, he said: “It’s a little different. In college we play three rounds, and obviously after turning professional, we play four, so the days are a bit longer, and everybody prepares really differently. And I think because golf is my job now, I’ve taken it seriously too.”
He made the turn in three-under with birdies on two, seven and nine, and then crushed the back nine with a hattrick of birdies from 11, and two more on 16 and 17.
The rising star has something of a cosmopolitan background. He lived in Japan for a couple of years growing up and then moved to the United States, where his golf career flourished.
He was runner-up at the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship at Royal Melbourne last year, losing in a play-off to Australian Jasper Stubbs.
Wilkin overcame the nerves commonly associated with playing after having shot a super-low round to be perfectly placed going into the weekend.
“I can’t swear in this interview can I,” joked Wilkin when asked about his round
“It was pretty frustrating. Probably had a good opportunity to sort of push my lead out, just missed a few short putts. I struck it really well off the tee, probably hit it better off the tee today than I did yesterday.
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“Hit more fairways, I know that I only missed a couple. My irons weren’t as good, probably chose the wrong shot at some wrong times, and yeah, I just need to clean the putting up. Yesterday, to be honest, I didn’t have that many putts over five feet, I hit it that close.”
He bogeyed his first two holes, but then bounced back with three successive birdies from the fifth, before dropping a shot on nine to turn in even. A birdie and a bogey on the back nine meant he finished as he started on 10 under.
All things considering it was a good performance, particularly because of the pressure he was under after his first round, which broke New Zealander Frank Nobilo’s course record set in 1994.
He added: “I wish I wasn’t feeling like I was this morning. I was trying to control my nerves a little bit, but yeah, I was definitely a little bit edgy. Started bogey, bogey, so the score probably showed that.”
Wilkin finished fifth on the Asian Development Tour Order of Merit last year which earned him his Asian Tour card for 2024, as the top 10 make it through.
Success has been hard to come by in what is his first full season on the Asian Tour, with his best performance coming at the Saudi Open presented by PIF, where he tied for 17th. He’s currently in 72nd place on the Asian Tour Order of Merit but now has a great chance to drastically improve his ranking.
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Contrastingly, Sarit is no stranger to being in contention, with two Asian Tour wins under his belt: last year’s Volvo China Open, and the BNI Indonesian Masters, the year before.
He began on 10, playing that nine in even but showed the kind of golf he is capable of when he birdied five holes on the second half and didn’t drop a shot.
He said: “It was quite a slow start. I mean I made a lot of mistakes on my front nine, but luckily my putter was on fire on the back nine. So, nothing to complain about on the back nine, but tomorrow I need to fire it up earlier.”
The Thai star revealed he has been spending a lot of time in Indonesia in-between tournaments and that appears to be helping this week.
“I have a lot of friends here and it’s quite easy to find a good Airbnb and nice room,” he explained.
“So quite similar to home, like, Damai Indah, Pondok Indah and Gunung Gilis, everywhere. The weather is the same, so that’s why I pick here, I enjoy it here.”
Indian Gaganjeet Bhullar, a three-time winner of his event who has a tremendous record in Indonesia with five of his 11 Asian Tour victories coming here, rallied with a 68 to finish one under, which was the cut line.
Nitithorn Thippong’s poor form continued with the defending champion carding a 76. The Thai golfer finished three over and will be disappointed to have not made the cut.
