Asian Tour stars Travis Smyth and Wade Ormsby from Australia are in prime position to mount a serious challenge for the New Zealand Open presented by Millbrook Resort this weekend.
Related: Matias Sanchez holds clubhouse lead in Millbrook Resort
Smyth carded a brilliant eight-under-par 63 today and Ormsby a 65 on the Remarkables course at Millbrook Resort to finish the second round one behind the leader – New Zealand amateur Yuki Miya.
View this post on Instagram
Miya shot a 67 on the Coronets and leads on 12-under – in the second event of the season on the Asian Tour, which is jointly-sanctioned with the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia, in partnership with the Japan Golf Tour.
Smyth, whose 63 is the lowest round of the week, and Ormsby are tied with New Zealand’s Daniel Hillier, who returned a 68, on Remarkables.
Kerry Mountcastle from New Zealand is in fifth following a 64 on Remarkables.
Asian Tour members Doyeob Mun from Korea and Indian Karandeep Kochhar enjoyed excellent days. Mun is three off the lead while Kochhar is a further shot back, after they both carded 67s on Coronets.
View this post on Instagram
Smyth caught fire at the end storming through by making birdies on his final four holes.
“I don’t like to ever think that any hole is just like a given birdie,” said the 31-year-old.
“They’re all short holes, but you still have to go and hit a good drive, hit a good second, and roll in the putt. So, they were well earned. And just, yeah, pretty stoked.”
Having started on the second nine, he made nine birdies in total and dropped one shot.
After another strong season on the Asian Tour last year he is knocking on the door of a second victory on the Tour, to add to his win at the 2022 Yeangder TPC.
View this post on Instagram
Last season he finished 19th on the Order of Merit and finished in the top-25 on 12 occasions, only missing two cuts in 17 starts.
He also started this season strongly by finishing third in the season-opening Philippine Golf Championship at the start of the month.
View this post on Instagram
When asked how he is able to consistently perform at a high level he said: “Probably just believing in myself in the sort of high-pressure situations. You know, there’s always a handful of shots that seem difficult that maybe I haven’t pulled off as well in the past. So just sticking to my guns, just believing in myself, you know, giving a red-hot crack at it, and just doing my best.”
Ormsby, a five-time winner on the Asian Tour, completed his round late into the evening, making birdies on 15 and 17.
