LEONG HOLDS CLUBHOUSE LEAD AT WEATHER-
HIT ASIAN TOUR Q-SCHOOL FINALS

Kota Kinabalu, December 13: Overnight leader Ben Leong of Malaysia cemented his lead at the top of the leaderboard with a commanding six-under-par 66 at the weather-disrupted second round of the Asian Tour Qualifying School Final Stage today.
The Malaysian rising star maintained his superb form at the Sabah Golf and Country Club by sinking seven birdie putts against a lone bogey for a 15-under-par 129 aggregate for the first 36 holes to open up a seven-stroke clubhouse lead over Jerome Delariarte of the Philippines who shot a steady 65.
Australia’s Andrew Dodt, who started the day nine strokes off the leader, produced a comeback performance by recording a blemish free 65 highlighted by seven birdies to finish on 137 in lone third place.
Leong, who is playing on his home course at the Sabah Golf and Country Club, began the defence of his lead by reeling in three birdies in his opening front nine and adding another four more birdies in six holes after the turn.
“There are still two more rounds to go and anything can happen but I will take it one step at a time and not get distracted by what’s happening around me. Hopefully I can maintain my consistent run here,” said Leong who credits his mental strength as the key to his good performance this week.
“There’s a lot of pressure here. However, I feel that I’ve been able to cope better with all the pressure that comes with the game. I should adopt this mental approach when I compete in tournaments in the future,” added Leong.
With five consecutive birdies from the 12th hole, Filipino Delariarte roared back into contention when he hit a total of seven birdies on his way to the day’s joint-best score of 65.
“I enjoyed a bogey free day today so I am quite happy with my performance after two days. I started hitting it close to the pins on the back nine and it all fell into place as I struck five birdies in a row,” said Delariarte, who felt that his round would have been better had he not miss an eight foot birdie putt on the 18th hole.
Under the calming weather conditions in the morning, a 30ft putt birdie conversion on the fourth hole gave Dodt the confidence and start which he had hoped for to keep his dream of earning his Asian Tour card alive.
“I got off to a pretty good start. I told myself not to make any bogeys and I managed to achieve that. Hopefully I can take that over to the next two rounds,” said Dodt, who turned in 33 with two more birdies.
Play was suspended for the day at the Sabah Golf and Country Club at 4.15pm due to unplayable conditions caused by heavy rain.
Over at the Sutera Harbour Golf and Country Club, play was also suspended at 3.25pm due to inclement weather conditions. Lighting treats forced play to be suspended for the day at 4.30pm.
Only half the field completed the second round with a total of 47 players at the Sabah Golf and Country Club to resume play at 6:30am on Friday.
47 players at the Sutera Harbour Golf and Country have also yet to complete their second round and will resume play at 6.40am.

Leading second round totals:
129 Ben Leong (Mas) 63, 66
136 Jerome Delariarte (Phi) 71, 65
137 Andrew Dodt (Aus) 72, 65