Singapore’s Nicklaus Chiam strengthened his grip on the lead at the PKNS Selangor Masters today, posting a four-under-par 67 to maintain a two-shot advantage over Thailand’s Kosuke Hamamoto heading into the final two rounds.

Chiam, who sparkled with a superb 64 in the opening round at Seri Selangor Golf Club yesterday, dropped just two shots against six birdies to keep his momentum firmly on track.

England’s Matt Killen, winner of the Ciputra Golfpreneur Tournament last August, recovered from an indifferent start to fire a 65, lifting him into a share of third place alongside Thailand’s Poom Pattaropong, who carded a 67.

Alone in fifth place on six-under-par 136 was Malaysia’s Khavish Varadan, who signed for a bogey-free 66. Seven Malaysians made the cut, which fell at two-over-par: Varadan (-6), 2022 champion Shahriffuddin Ariffin (-5), Galven Green (-3), Daeng Abdul Rahman (-2), Kenneth De Silva (-1), Sukree Othman (+1) and Seri Selangor ambassador Zia Izzuddeen (+1).

This is not the first time Chiam has led going into the final 36 holes of a professional tournament, although he admitted he could not recall the last occasion.

“I played steady golf and tried to minimise mistakes,” said Chiam. “I’ll stick to the same game plan tomorrow — shot by shot, hole by hole — but I’ll try to be aggressive when the opportunity arises.

“On this course you have to keep the ball in play. If you’re going to miss the green, you have to miss it in the right place.”

Khavish Varadan

Leading Malaysian Varadan was pleased with his approach play.

“I was hitting my numbers,” he said. “My goal is to hit as many greens as I can over the next two days. I love the layout.”

The second round produced the tournament’s third hole-in-one, courtesy of Indonesia’s Kevin Akbar, who used a seven-iron at the par-three eighth — the same hole aced by Hamamoto and Canadian Henry Lee yesterday. It was Akbar’s first hole-in-one as a professional and his third overall.

The round of the day belonged to Japan’s Naoki Sekito, who matched the Seri Selangor course record of eight-under-par 63. After opening with a six-over 77, Sekito bounced back in spectacular fashion, carding an eagle and seven birdies against a lone bogey.

“Today I found more fairways and holed a few more putts, and that made the difference,” said Sekito. “After the 77 I wasn’t sure if I would make the cut, so I’m obviously very happy with today’s score.”

Two amateurs also progressed to the final 36 holes, making it on the number — Australia’s Josiah Edwards and Japan’s Koshin Nagasaki, winner of last week’s Selangor International Junior Golf Championship.

Defending champion Tawit Polthai of Thailand saw his title defence end after missing the cut by one shot following rounds of 72 and 73.

Twelve-year-old Malaysian talent Raja Muhd Syakir was also among those who missed out, but the highly rated youngster was upbeat after his first professional appearance. A student of the PKNS Golf Academy, Syakir is a prolific winner at junior level.

“The experience has been great, as I was able to meet and play with professional golfers,” said Syakir. “They are very good in all parts of their game and very precise in their practice. Hopefully I can learn from that.”

For the second consecutive year, the US$175,000 tournament serves as the season-opening event of the 2026 Asian Development Tour (ADT). The 144-player field comprises 80 ADT members, 40 from the Professional Golf of Malaysia (PGM) Tour and 24 invitees.

With the top 10 players on the final Order of Merit earning Asian Tour cards for the following season, there is plenty of incentive for ADT members to begin their 2026 campaigns strongly.