England’s Harley Smith maintained his overnight lead with a hard-fought one under-par-71 at the Aramco Invitational Tournament in Saudi Arabia today.

The teenage amateur battled the wind to keep his advantage after the early session, although several contenders were able to gain ground, including Saudi Arabia’s Othman Almulla with a 67, the best score of the morning at the US$250,000 Asian Development Tour (ADT) event.

Thailand’s Denwit Boriboonsub sits two shots adrift of Smith on six-under after scoring a round of 70, and was later joined by Sweden’s Erik Jonasson, who also found the conditions at the Rolling Hills Golf Club a bit of a challenge.

“”It was a good day,” said Jonasson after his round. “Very tough out there, the wind is howling, so I tried to stay patient and I did it quite well.

“It sounds like a cliche, but I’m just going to take one shot at a time, try to do my best and see where I end up,” he added.

They were followed in the clubhouse standings among the early finishers by Thailand’s Vanchai Luangnitikul and the Japanese pair of Naoki Sekito and Shinichi Mizuno on four under par.

DHAHRAN, SAUDI ARABIA: Denwit Boriboonsub of Thailand pictured on Thursday November 30, 2023 during Round Two of the Aramco Invitational Tournament. Picture by Paul Lakatos / Asian Development Tour.

After his sparkling seven-under round in the afternoon yesterday, the 18-year-old Smith found the conditions similar to when he tackled the course in the morning.

“It was solid, ball-striking wise, but a little bit frustrating on the greens. The wind is very strong for the whole field today, pretty much like yesterday,” he said after his round.

“I hit the ball very nice on the front nine, obviously I started on the back nine, but yeah I hit the ball very nice, and just played very solid.

“I took advantage of the par fives, which was nice. Front nine I hit it well, got a bit unfortunate with a couple of lip outs and that, but that’s golf,” he added.

DHAHRAN, SAUDI ARABIA: Naoki Sekito of Japan pictured on Thursday November 30, 2023 during Round Two of the Aramco Invitational Tournament. Picture by Paul Lakatos / Asian Development Tour.

Having played his first two rounds with his coach and caddie David March on the bag, Smith will be on his own for the weekend as his long-time companion has to head back the Rayleigh Club in Essex for a prior coaching engagement.

“Obviously I’d love for him to be here,” said Smith. “He’s a big part of my team and I’ve worked with him for ages, and he’s a good caddie.

“But he has to get back and help out, so I’ll just make sure that everything we’ve worked on this week, I’ll take on board myself for the next couple of days,” he explained.

As the afternoon session gets underway and players start to move up the leaderboard, Indonesia’s Kevin Akbar sits in 10th spot after a two under par round.

They are trailed in 13th spot on two under par by Yuvraj Singh Sandhu (72) of India, Saudi Arabia’s Almulla (67), Malaysia’s Galven Green (69) and Thailand’s Runchanapong Youprayong (71) and Jakraphan Premsirigorn (72).

DHAHRAN, SAUDI ARABIA: Othman Almulla of Saudi Arabia pictured on Thursday November 30, 2023 during Round Two of the Aramco Invitational Tournament. Picture by Paul Lakatos / Asian Development Tour.

There is keen competition for places in this season-ending ADT event, as the US$250,000 purse – the richest of the year – means that a good finish can make a huge difference to the final Order of Merit standings.

The top ten finishers in the OOM after this event will gain their cards for the Asian Tour next season.

Current OOM leader Deyen Lawson withdrew from the event overnight due to blisters and muscle pain, so his position at the top of the table is likely to come under threat.
And with nine of the season’s tournament winners still in the field, all eyes will be on the weekend to see how the results pan out.

The early indication for the cut is at three over par, although that is likely to change as the rest of the field complete their rounds. From a starting field of 119 players, the weekend will be for the top 50 and ties after the completion of Round Two.