Gavin Flint leads by three at Myanmar Masters

NEWS RELEASE ISSUED BY THE ASIAN TOUR
Yangon: Australia’s Gavin Flint posted a six-under-par 66 to open up a three-shot lead after the second round of the US$75,000 Air Bagan Myanmar Masters presented by IBTC on Friday.
The Australian’s two-day total of nine-under-par 135 moved him atop the leaderboard with Malaysia’s Akhmal Tarmizee trailing closely behind in second place on 138 at the season-opening event of the inaugural Asian Development Tour.
Overnight joint-leader Jani Pertilla of Finland slipped two places down to third after carding a 73 for a 140 total while Brazil ’s Lucas Lee added a 72 to his opening 69 to take a share of fourth place alongside Myanmar ’s Min Naing and Japan ’s Takafumi Kawane on 141.
Flint , who is making his first visit to Myanmar , is clearly delighted with the way he has been playing and sees this as a good build-up to his maiden Asian Tour title quest in Bangkok next week.
The Australian who enjoyed two top-10s en route to a 49th place on the Asian Tour Order of Merit last season posted a bogey-free round highlighted by six birdies at the Pun Hlaing Golf Club.
“I hope to carry this good form over to next week’s full field Asian Tour event. This is a good warm-up event especially in a competitive environment and I hope to continue playing well,” said the Australian.
Meanwhile Akhmal overcame the disappointment of missing out on his full playing rights on the Asian Tour at the recent Qualifying School by marking his card with one eagle on the par-five fourth hole, three birdies and two bogeys.
“I missed out on a top-40 finish at Qualifying School by one shot. It was a disappointing but I’ve got over it and I’m focusing my efforts on a solid performance this week,” said Akhmal who represented Malaysia at the 2007 South East Asia Games where he won a bronze medal.
Pertilla surprised even himself after he mixed four birdies against three bogeys and a double bogey on the par-four 16th to stay in contention.
“Honestly, this is my first time playing out here in Myanmar and I came here not knowing what to expect initially,” said the Finn.
He had earlier missed the cut during the first stage of the Asian Tour Qualifying School and he is eager to play his way back into the Asian Tour this week.
"I am pretty pleased with myself today. The conditions out there were great and I stuck to my game plan," added Pertilla.
Brazilian-born Lee, who secured his full playing rights at the Asian Tour Qualifying School earlier this month, is also pleased that his good form is carrying over to this week’s event.
“I’m really happy with the way I’ve been playing. I’m feeling confident about my game and it’s a good warm up to my first full-field Asian Tour event next week,” said the 23-year-old Brazilian who is now living in the United States .
A good result at this week’s Air Bagan Myanmar Masters is crucial for many of the aspiring professionals as the leading three players on the Asian Development Tour will win their coveted Asian Tour cards for the following season.
A total of 51 players made the weekend cut which was set at seven-over par.
The Asian Development Tour is designed in the same structure as the Nationwide Tour in America and European Challenge Tour to build a career pathway for professional golfers in Asia .
The Air Bagan Myanmar Masters presented by IBTC marks the start of the inaugural Asian Development Tour. Since the announcement of the Asian Development Tour, many regional tournaments have shown a keen interest to support this new and exciting initiative by the Asian Tour.
The Tour not only allows aspiring young talents to develop their game through a secondary circuit in Asia , it also provides sponsorship opportunities to local companies hoping to maximize their exposure through the Tour.
Other legs on the Asian Development Tour are being finalised in the Philippines , Chinese Taipei, Indonesia , Thailand , Malaysia , Vietnam and India .
For more information and the latest news on the Asian Development Tour, please visit the Asian Development Tour website at http://www.asiantour.com/adt_home.aspx

LEADING SECOND-ROUND TOTALS
135 Gavin Flint (Aus) 69 66
138 Akhmal Tarmizee (Mas) 69 69
140 Jani Pertilla (Fin) 67 73
141 Lucas Lee (Bra) 69 72, Min Naing (Mya) 70-71, Takafumi Kawane (Jap) 71-70
142 Mitchell Slorach (Sin) 72 70, Naing Naing Lin (Mya) 71-71, Aung Win (Mya) 70-72, Eltoro Sjoholm (Swe) 71 71, Hsu Chia-jen (Tpe) 72 70