Hong Kong Open: ‘Diamond’ Phachara sparkles at Fanling to take halfway lead, as local trio squeeze into the weekend
- Thailand’s Phachara Khongwatmai cards seven-under-par 63 to take one shot lead in International Series event
- Taichi Kho, Matthew Cheung and Brian Donovan all just make the cut at two under overall, but are overshadowed by amateur Shen Wang-ngai
In a field gleaming with golfing talent, Thailand’s Phachara Khongwatmai shone brightest at the Hong Kong Open on Friday, shooting a sparkling seven-under-par 63 to take the lead at the halfway stage.
The man they call ‘Diamond’ fired off 10 birdies to move to 12 under for tournament, and would have opened up a far greater lead than the one shot he has, but for the three bogeys he also posted.
Overnight leader Cameron Smith overcame an early start to card a 66 to move to 11 under, while Sang-moon Bae’s 63 lifted him into a tie for second.
Taiwan’s Lee Chieh-po was among a group of five a shot further back after posting a 65, driven in a big way by a hole-in-one on the par-3 eighth, which also won him a BMW I5 eDrive40 MSE.
Playing alongside Smith, Taichi Kho battled back from a double bogey at 18, his eighth hole of the day, which left him in danger of missing the cut, to rattle off five birdies to reach two under and squeeze into the weekend.
“I was quite far out of the tournament, but I stayed disciplined to my game plan. I was really happy to finish mentally strong,” Kho said. “I obviously have a lot of good golf in me and just to get that out at the end was great.”
