Ace Davies one shot off pace in

Singha Thailand Open

Edinburgh-born Welshman Rhys Davies is lying in second place at the halfway stage of the Singha Thailand Open, after shooting a six-under-par 64 - which included a hole-in-one - for a 36-hole tally of 11-under-par 129 - one shot behind India’s S.S.P. Chowrasia who stormed to the front with a 62.

The Indian stand-out needed only 25 putts at the par-70 Laguna Phuket Golf Club to top the leaderboard on 12-under-par 128, one stroke ahead of Davies, pictured above, who sank a magical hole-in-one en route to a 64 in the US$500,000 Asian Tour event.
Young Indian Gaganjeet Bhullar is third after a 66 while Australian David Bransdon stayed in touch in fourth place following a 65. Thailand’s hopes were carried by unheralded Udorn Duangdecha, whose second straight 66 left him within touching distance of the new tournament leader on 132.
Since winning the Indian Masters early last year for his career breakthrough, Chowrasia’s form dipped due to a combination of factors but a new putter has reignited his game.
“I’ve been practising my putting a lot. It was very bad the last few weeks but it’s come good,” said Chowrasia, who used a local caddie today after his regular bagman Pritan Sikia returned to India on Thursday following a family bereavement.
“I put a new putter in the bag last week. The old one was a bit shut and this new putter has a loft which is two or three degrees more open. I was missing a lot of putts left previously,” he said.
Chowrasia’s bogey-free card was sprinkled with eight birdies but none was sweeter than the one on the eighth hole, his penultimate of the day, when he holed a wedge shot from 110 yards after finding trouble in the trees.
“It was good to get that birdie as I was struggling for par,” said the 30-year-old Chowrasia, who is the son of a greenskeeper. “My putting is coming back and I’m driving it well. I’m confident of playing well this weekend.”
Davies, who enjoyed a strong rookie season last year with three top-10s, holed his five iron tee shot at the par-3 seventh hole for his first ace in the play-for-pay ranks.
“I was one over after six holes and not really knowing what was going on. I then holed a five iron which changed my demeanour. I went from there, birdied the next three holes and nearly holed it again on the par-3 11th and then missed that short putt! I kept going and managed to birdie 15 and 18 coming in,” said the 23-year-old, who represented Great Britain and Ireland in the 2007 Walker Cup at Royal County Down.
Davies hopes to sustain his quest for a first professional victory and feels that last year’s play-off defeat to Thongchai Jaidee of Thailand off at the Hana Bank Vietnam Masters will serve him well.
“I’m in a good position. I learned that I could compete at the top of the leaderboard which is the most important thing. I handled myself under pressure and played well down the stretch,” said Davies.
Big-hitting Bhullar, 20, was disappointed with his two bogeys on the seventh and 17th holes, where he three-putted and drove into the water hazard respectively. But the young Indian was pleased to force his way into contention.
“That was decent but I dropped two silly shots. I am hitting the ball well. Fingers crossed, I’ll be alright for the weekend. I’ll need to be patient. If I can, I’ll be okay,” said Bhullar.
Like Chowrasia, Bransdon also switched putters, opting for a broomhandle putter after hitting 18 greens in regulation in Malaysia and carding a 74 several weeks ago. “It’s been pleasing as I’ve not had good days this year,” said the Australian, who missed two cuts out of three starts this season.
“I was pretty desperate as I’ve not broken 36 puts for three rounds. Something needed to change. I was hitting it close and not making anything,” he added.
Overnight leaders Mitchell Brown of Australia and Indian Digvijay Singh slipped back after rounds of 71 and 73 respectively while Thai star Thongchai made the halfway cut right on the mark of 139 after a 70.
SECOND-ROUND LEADERS

Par 140 (2 x 70)

128 S.S.P. Chowrasia (Ind) 66 62
129 Rhys Davies (Wal) 65 64
130 Gaganjeet Bhullar (Ind) 64 66
131 David Bransdon (Aus) 66 65
132 Tim Stewart (Aus) 65 67, Udorn Duangdecha (Tha) 66 66
133 Chapchai Nirat (Tha) 64 69, Lu Wei-Chih (Tpe) 65 68, Mardan Mamat (Sin) 66 67
134 Mitchell Brown (Aus) 63 71, Keith Horne (Rsa) 65 69, Wu Ashun (Chn) 67 67, Angelo Que (Phi) 67 67, Darren Beck (Aus) 67 67, Kiradech Aphibarnrat (Tha) 68 66, Kodai Ichihara (Jpn) 68 66, Bryan Saltus (USA) 68 66, Kim Dae-Hyun (Kor) 70 64
135 Unho Park (Aus) 64 71, Kwanchai Tannin (Tha) 65 70, Anirban Lahiri (Ind) 68 67, Lam Chih Bing (Sin) 68 67, Jbe Kruger (Rsa) 68 67, Iain Steel (Mal) 69 66, Ben Leong (Mal) 69 66, Danny Chia (Mal) 69 66, Juvic Pagunsan (Phi) 70 65, Toni Karjalainen (Fin) 70 65, Prom Meesawat (Tha) 71 64, Jason Knutzon (USA) 72 63
136 Digvijay Singh (Ind) 63 73, Boonchu Ruangkit (Tha) 65 71, Mo Joong-Kyung (Kor) 65 71, Tetsuji Hiratsuka (Jpn) 66 70, Daniel Chopra (Swe) 67 69, Amandeep Johl (Ind) 67 69, Siddikur (Ban) 68 68, Jyoti Randhawa (Ind) 68 68, Antonio Lascuna (Phi) 68 68, Varut Chomchalam (Tha) 69 67, Gavin Flint (Aus) 70 66
137 Himmat Rai (Ind) 65 72, Anthony Kang (USA) 67 70, Park Jun-Won (Kor) 67 70, Mark Purser (Nzl) 68 69, Andrew Dodt (Aus) 68 69, Shiv Kapur (Ind) 69 68, S. Siva Chandhran (Mal) 69 68, Rory Hie (Ina) 69 68, Zhang Lian-Wei (Chn) 70 67, Chris Campbell (Aus) 70 67
138 Artemio Murakami (Phi) 67 71, Chang Tse-Peng (Tpe) 67 71, Mars Pucay (Phi) 68 70, Frankie Minoza (Phi) 69 69, Yasin Ali (Eng) 70 68
139 Young Nam (Kor) 65 74, Vuttipong Puangkaew (Tha) 66 73, Shang Lei (Chn) 67 72, Adam Le Vesconte (Aus) 69 70, Thongchai Jaidee (Tha) 69 70, Nakul Vichitryuthasastr (Tha) 69 70, Neven Basic (Aus) 70 69, Thaworn Wiratchant (Tha) 70 69, Peter Cooke (Aus) 70 69, Jean Van De Velde (Fra) 70 69, Chaipat Darapanich (Tha) 72 67
MISSED THE CUT
140 Namchoak Tantipokakul (Tha) 67 73, Dinesh Chand (Fij) 67 73, Kao Bo-Song (Tpe) 68 72, Simon Griffiths (Eng) 69 71, Ally Mellor (Eng) 69 71, Suk Jong-Yul (Kor) 69 71, Andrew Marshall (Eng) 70 70, Scott Taylor (USA) 70 70, Jerome Delariarte (Phi) 70 70, Do Kim (Aus) 72 68, M. Sasidaran (Mal) 72 68, Lu Wen-Teh (Tpe) 72 68
141 Airil Rizman (Mal) 67 74, Yeh Chang-Ting (Tpe) 68 73, Achita Ounmuang (Tha) 68 73, Varit Chomchalam (Tha) 69 72, Wittawat Sae-Ung (Tha) 69 72, Panuwat Muenlek (Tha) 69 72, Chen Yuan-Chi (Tpe) 70 71, Will Yanagisawa (USA) 70 71, Sushi Ishigaki (Jpn) 71 70, Daisuke Maruyama (Jpn) 71 70
142 Andy Combe (Eng) 70 72, Hendrik Buhrmann (Rsa) 70 72, Zaw Moe (Mya) 70 72, C. Muniyappa (Ind) 70 72, Lin Wen-Hong (Tpe) 70 72, Somkiat Srisa-Nga (Tha) 70 72, Gaurav Ghei (Ind) 72 70, Narinrit Tantrakul (Tha) 72 70, Krisada Rangwat (Tha) 72 70, Shaaban Hussin (Mal) 74 68, Somchai Pongpaew (Tha) 76 66
143 Steven Tan (Mal) 68 75, Chawalit Plaphol (Tha) 69 74, Arjun Singh (Ind) 70 73, Ross Bain (Sco) 71 72, Atthaphon Prathummanee (Tha) 71 72, Sattaya Supupramai (Tha) 71 72, Thanyakorn Khrongpha (Tha) 74 69, Chinnarat Phadungsil (Tha) 75 68
144 Supakorn Utaipat (Tha) 67 77, Varan Isarabhakdi (Tha) 67 77, Rahil Gangjee (Ind) 68 76, Vasin Sripattranusorn (Tha) 70 74, Chan Yih-Shin (Tpe) 70 74, Pavit Tangkamolprasert (Tha) 70 74, Pijit Petchkasem (Tha) 71 73, Michael Light (Aus) 71 73, Methee Siripoch (Tha) 71 73, Hsu Mong-Nan (Tpe) 72 72, John Parry (Eng) 74 70, Adam Blyth (Aus) 75 69
145 Chanat Sakulpolphaisan (Tha) 69 76, Yutthaporn Pongsantiey (Tha) 71 74, Scott Barr (Aus) 72 73, Choengchai Panpumpo (Tha) 73 72
146 Emanuele Canonica (Ita) 71 75, Chiragh Kumar (Ind) 72 74, Lien Lu-Sen (Tpe) 72 74, Rohan Blizard (Aus) 72 74
147 Wilhelm Schauman (Swe) 73 74, Pasamet Pogamnerd (Tha) 73 74, Rick Kulacz (Aus) 73 74, Piya Swangarunporn (Tha) 74 73, Wang Ter-Chang (Tpe) 74 73
148 Ronnachai Jamnong (Tha) 73 75, Siraphop Srisakorn (Tha) 73 75, Olle Nordberg (Swe) 75 73, Poh Eng Wah (Sin) 75 73, Poramed Latlaen (Tha) 77 71
149 S Murthy (Mal) 72 77, Wisut Artjanawat (Tha) 73 76, Pornsakon Tipsanit (Tha) 73 76, Porameth Sonthirati (Tha) 75 74, Chris Roake (Eng) 79 70
150 Sirapong Maitreeyeunyong (Tha) 72 78, Adam Groom (Aus) 72 78, David Freeman (Hkg) 74 76, Pawin Inkhapradit (Tha) 78 72
151 Phiphatphong Naewsuk (Tha) 73 78, Nuphan Marpraneet (Tha) 73 78, Marcus Both (Aus) 73 78
154 George Coetzee (Rsa) 77 77
155 Richard Moir (Aus) 76 79
158 Jirapong Wongworakul (Tha) 81 77
Retired: Thammanoon Srirot (Tha) 73, Guido Van Der Valk (Ned) 73
Withdrew: Chris Rodgers (Eng) 77vies (Wal) 65-64