Justin De Los Santos found himself in a promising position atop the leaderboard as he fired a bogey-free six-under-par 66 to lead the field after the second round of the Hana Bank Invitational on Friday.
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The 29-year-old Filipino is gunning for his maiden win on the JGTO and will head into the weekend rounds, holding the lead for the first time this season after compiling a two-day total of 12-under-par 132.
The quartet of Hiroshi Iwata, Choi Jin-ho, Ok Tae-hoon and Kim Baekjun are tied for second with matching 133 totals, trailing De Los Santos by a single shot at Heaven Country Club.
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“It feels very good to be in this position,” said De Los Santos. “I always want to win—that’s always the goal. The greens are hard and fast, but I like them. My iron shots from the rough were really good. Today, my putting was solid, although my iron play was better yesterday.”
Iwata, meanwhile, fired three consecutive birdies from the 16th hole to close with 68 and emerged as the top Japanese player.
He endured a roller-coaster day, mixing two birdies and two bogeys before his birdie hat-trick hauled him back into contention for an eighth JGTO title this week.
“My tee shots were a bit better than yesterday, but there’s still a lot of room for improvement. The pin positions were a little tougher today. There are still two days of golf left and everything to play for,” said the 44-year-old.
