Amateur Ng Jing Xuen carded a two-under-par 69 to increase her lead in the Ladies Championship after a weather-disrupted second round at the Yaris Cup held in the Mines Resort Golf Club.
With the morning session at the penultimate event of the Toyota Tour delayed by two-and-a-half hours due to rainy conditions, a total of 29 players were unable to finish and will resume play tomorrow morning. Sabah's Ben Leong, who returned with a four-under-par 67 to add to yesterday's 69, holds the clubhouse lead at six-under-par.
Trailing Leong by one are Afif Fathi and Kenneth De Silva at five-under-par, who are among the 29 who did not manage to complete their rounds for today.
Behind the clubhouse leader by three strokes are Tan Yih Heng and Danny Chia.
Meanwhile, Jing Xuen's two-day aggregate of seven-under-par 135 gives her a commanding five-shot lead over Winne Ng (-2) heading into the final round of the Ladies Championship.
The 2023 Sea Games gold medallist was in fine form and was four-under at one stage after 11 holes until two back-to-back bogeys stopped her advancement. She birdied the difficult 17th but got pegged down by a third bogey at the last.
“I wasn't expecting that I would be leading, honestly. I was just focusing on my game trying to have a good time out there,” said Jing Xuen.
"My approach shots were accurate and my putting was also decent. Though what got me through was my mental state, I was more calm and positive on the course and will want to do the same tomorrow," she added.
Winnie, who turned pro last month after the Alphard Cup, confessed she wasn’t at her best today.
“I wasn’t as focused as yesterday and didn’t commit to all my shots. It was a bit of a struggle and I had to remind myself to play my best. I managed three birdies but poor play resulted in four bogeys," said the rookie professional.
Leading Round Two Scores
*Completed rounds only
Men's
136 (-6) Ben Leong 67-69
139 (-3) Tan Yih Heng 71-68, Danny Chia 69-70
140 (-2) R. Nachimuthu 70-70, Nor Heikal Hadi 69-71, Shahriffuddin Ariffin 70-70, Daeng Rahman 73-69
Ladies'
135 (-7) Ng Jing Xuen (a) 66-69
140 (-2) Winnie Ng 68-72
144 (+2) Zulaikah Nasser 72-72
146 (+4) Siti Nur Husna (a) 76-70, Liyana Durisic 73-73, Wang Xin Yao (a) 73-73, Amalia Shahzan 72-74
