KEMAROL BAHARIN shot the best round yet to take the lead at the halfway stage of the PGM Tour’s Swiss Garden Closed Championships at Damai Laut Golf & Country Club in Lumut, Perak today.
Seeking a second successive title in the second event on the local circuit this season, the Kuala Lumpur player carded a five-under-par 67 that gave him 139 total and a three shot advantage at the top of the leaderboard.
In second place was Hans Jamil, who followed up his opening 69 with a one-over 73 today. In joint third were Rashid Ismail (75) and S. Murthy (75) on 145, while R. Nachimuthu (72), Shaaban Hussin (74) and Iain Steel (74) were tied for fifth on 146.
Akhmal Tarmizee (74) and Kenneth De Silva (74) were joint eighth on four-over 148, with Danny Chia (73), Wilson Choo (74) and Nicholas Fung (76) were bunched in 10th place on 149.
Speaking after his round, Kemarol said he was fortunate that “a few good breaks” set-up his sterling effort.
“I had seven birdies in this round – and two bogeys,” said Kemarol, who opened his campaign with a victory in the I&P Templer Park Classic last month. “I played solid golf that was helped with some good breaks.
“The course is dry and tough to play because of this. But I also putted well and that helped me too,” he added.
The RM160,000 Swiss Garden Championship is the second stop on the PGM Tour calendar, which this year has more than RM5 million in prize money on offer.
