Yang, Brereton and Tanapat join Gill on top at Madinaty
September 29: It got crowded at the top as four players shared the lead at the halfway stage of the $125,000 Egyptian Golf Series 14.
On Tuesday at the Madinaty Golf Club, overnight leader India’s Pukhraj Singh Gill managed to turn things around with five birdies on his back nine in a round of three-under par 67, but that could only take him to nine-under 131. He was joined at that score by Australia’s Darcy Brereton (66, main picture), Korea’s Minhyeok Yang (64) and Thailand’s Tanapat Pichaikool (66).
Malaysia’s Marcus Lim and Korea’s Jaeil Kim both shot identical rounds of 67 to remain one behind the leaders at 132, while Australia’s Deyen Lawson (67), China’s Andi Xu (64), Frenchman Edgar Catherine (65) and England’s Ben Jones (67) were very much in the mix at seven-under total.
The lowest round of the day was by Welshman David Boote (63), who improved to tied 11th place at -6 after a bogey-free round that included seven birdies.
Minhyeok Yang of Korea. Picture by Ryan Tambalque/ADT.
Yang, who recently moved to Thailand with his father to be able to travel more comfortably within Asia, was bogey-free for his round, and hoped the wind would be up for the next two days.
“I played nicely today. My putting was very good, even though I missed a few wedge shots. My swing felt really nice, especially on the back nine,” said Yang, who is fifth in the Order of Merit and wants to seal his Asian Tour card for the next season with a good performance this week.
“I need to keep playing like this because I think the winning score will be around 22-under. It will be lower than last week because all the players were here last week as well, and they know the course conditions, are used to the wind, and can read the green better.
“I want more wind because this course is very wide.”
Like Yang, 32-year-old Brereton is also searching for his first professional win. He is currently 17th in the Order of Merit, and a good week will take him closer to the all-important top-10, which secures a graduation to the Asian Tour.
David Boote of Wales. Picture by Jason Butler/Asian Tour.
His only mistake on the day was a bogey on the 11th hole, but Brereton was pleased with how he played.
“It’s been a solid couple of days. Didn’t really find myself in too much trouble, so just looking forward to seeing what the next couple of days hold,” said the Melbourne resident.
“I think everything’s just complete. I’m hitting it pretty decent off the tee, hitting the right spots into the greens, holding a few putts between five and 15 feet and chipping it good. So, not much stress on my game. I think I found the rhythm of the course and would like to just keep doing what I’m doing.”
Gill, who shot a 64 on the opening day with three birdies and an eagle in his last six holes, needed to dig deep after a rough start, which saw him finish his front nine (back nine of the course) in two-over.
“I got off to quite a slow start today. I had a pretty easy opening couple of holes, but I was one-over through the first three. I then lost my ball on the 17th hole (his ninth) and made another bogey after making a birdie with my second ball,” said the 28-year-old.
“I think I came back quite well. I was able to stay patient and make five birdies in my closing nine holes. I felt the course conditions overall were slightly easier than yesterday, which is why I am not too surprised by the scores. Nevertheless, I’m quite grateful that I was able to recover from a rough front nine, and still stay in co-lead going into the last two days.”
The Egyptian Golf Series 14, as well as last week’s Egyptian Golf Series 13, are co-sanctioned by the Egyptian Golf Federation. The Arab Golf Federation and Golf Saudi are partnering the two tournaments.
September 28: India’s Pukhraj Singh Gill (main picture) stormed into the clubhouse with an eagle and two birdies over his last four holes to clinch the opening-round lead in the $125,000 Egyptian Golf Series 14.
On Monday at the Madinaty Golf Club, Gill was one-under after his first 12 holes despite some good golf. A birdie on the par-5 13th kickstarted a superb stretch of holes for the 30-year-old as he birdied the 16th, eagled the 17th and picked up his final shot on the 18th to break the logjam at 5-under and set the marker with a 64.
Malaysia’s Marcus Lim, Thailand’s Tanapat Pichaikool, Korea’s Jaeil Kim and Australian Darcy Brereton were tied for second place at 65 on a day when swirling wind at the Robert Trent Jones-designed course challenged the Asian Development Tour players.
England’s Ben Jones, Aussie Deyen Lawson and American Tim Nielsen were tied for sixth place at 66 on the par-70 layout, which is hosting back-to-back events on the ADT schedule.
Tanapat Pichaikool of Thailand. Picture by Storyline/IGPL..
Gill, who hails from the industrial city of Ludhiana in the northern state of Punjab, has already secured his breakthrough international win at the ADT Players Championship presented by The R&A in Kuala Lumpur earlier this year. He secured a top-10 finish in the Egyptian Golf Series 13 last week and entered the penultimate event on the ADT schedule in 10th place in the Order of Merit.
The top-10 players at the end of Aramco Invitational in the last week of November will graduate to the Asian Tour next season.
The Asian Tour card was a thought in Gill’s mind for a long time after his win, but he says he has now forced himself to forget about that and just focus on the golf in hand.
“I’ve been trying to predict the Order of Merit quite a bit. I thought $33,000 would have been safe. I thought four events ago that, you know,
Marcus Lim of Malaysia. Picture by Toha Bin Dol/ADT
anyone who gets close to about 35 is good. But we’ve had so many new guys playing really good. Like Kevin (Akbar) winning the Ciputra event, and then Sean (Ramos) was due an event, so he made a big jump last week. So, it’s really difficult to predict. I’ve now just been trying to focus on the shots at hand,” said Gill, who is a member of the Indian Golf Premier League back home.
Speaking on his opening round, Gill added: “Pretty solid overall today. I think it helps that we’re playing here for the second week. I was quite good off the tee today. Pretty much hit all the fairways. Stayed patient up until the end of the game, so the finish was pretty good.
“On 17th, I had a great shot off the tee with favourable wind. The crucial one was the second shot. I hit a four-iron from about 250 yards, chased it up to a back flag to about 12 feet, and made it. On 18th, I was able to sink a 15-20 footer. So that was a good finish to the round.”
Tanapat is playing his 10th straight week, but seems to be managing his weary body well after a round of six birdies. Winner of the am green IGPL Morocco Rising Stars tournament in Morocco earlier this year, he is 12th in the Order of Merit and also chasing his Asian Tour card.
The Thai star arrived on Sunday from India, where he has been playing on the domestic DP World-PGTI for the past four weeks, and admitted rest was top of mind.
“Lots of positive today. This is my 10th week in a row, so lots of rest and lots of planning to do this week. I am trying to rest as much as possible. Got a little bit of swing change this morning. We have got a fantastic range here in Madinaty, so I can work on my game a little bit before the round,” said Tanapat.
“Today was just a combination of everything coming together. I hit my shot decently well. My putting was on most of the time when I got the chance.”
Lim was bogey-free for 65. The Malaysian, who is still searching for his first win, said: “Tee to green was solid all day. I missed only one green. Missed one green on a par five because I hit the lip of the waste bunker. Left a couple of putts out there, but can’t complain.”
The Egyptian Golf Series 14, as well as last week’s Egyptian Golf Series 13, are co-sanctioned by the Egyptian Golf Federation. The Arab Golf Federation and Golf Saudi are partnering in the two tournaments.
Matt Killen’s penchant for Damai Indah Golf (BSD Course) was plain to see once more today after he carded a second-round six-under-par 66 to keep the lead in the Ciputra Golfpreneur Tournament on 14-under.
The Englishman is the defending champion and was joined in front by Thailand’s Tanapat Pichaikool, who fired a 64 – in the 12th leg of the season on the Asian Development Tour (ADT).
American Nathan Han shot a brilliant 61 to climb into sole possession of third, two behind the frontrunners, while his compatriot Tim Nielsen and England’s Finlay Mason are another shot back. Nielson fired a 65 and Mason fired a 68.
Indonesian Kevin Akbar, the joint first-round leader with Killen, came in with a 70, and is tied sixth, one shot further behind.
Impressive Killen will be the man to beat going into the final two rounds. Today’s round was his eighth successive round in the 60s on the acclaimed BSD Course. He tied for 16th here in 2024, bettering 70 over the last two rounds, and last year carded rounds of 66, 65, 64, and 68 to win by four shots on 25-under.
Tanapat Pichaikool.
He said: “Felt good. Steady day today, felt simpler than yesterday. The weather conditions were a bit friendlier.
“I didn’t hole many putts though. I hit a lot of putts that didn’t go in. A few shaved the hole. Hopefully they go in over the next few days.”
Like Tanapat he was bogey free and made his move on the first nine, registering four birdies.
“There are some tougher pins out there on the second nine. Some of them are harder to hit close to. My iron shots weren’t quite as good. Overall, I am in and around where I want to be,” he added.
He finished second in the Bangkok Classic in June and is in pursuit of his second title on the ADT. A third placed finish on last year’s ADT Order of Merit, helped by winning this week’s event, means he currently has a full Asian Tour card this year, as the top-10 receive cards.
Tanapat notched five birdies on the front nine to make his move. He won the IGPL Morocco Rising Stars in May and is currently in ninth place on the ADT Order of Merit.
“Interesting round,” he said. “The golf course is in fantastic condition, especially the greens, which helped my game more than it should have. This course really excites me.”
He played a practice round with Mr Budiarsa Sastrawinata, the President Director of Damai Indah Golf this week, and said he got, “some great information about the course from the right man.”
Nathan Han.
The Thai golfer first made a name for himself on the ADT in 2024, when he won twice and finished second on the Merit list.
He said: “I love coming to Indonesia. I always enjoy playing golf here, and of course, I always seem to play well in Indonesia for some reason. The food and everything here is very similar to Thailand.”
Han fired the best round of the week so far, thanks to nine birdies and an eagle. He started on the back nine, when there was little indication of what was about to come, sitting three under after eight.
However, an eagle on the par-five 18th provided the spark that he needed. He proceeded to birdie six holes on the next nine, including four in a row from the third.
“Got off to a slow start,” he said. “It’s small margins, I just made more putts today and I hit the ball a little bit close to the hole. I got some lucky breaks go my way. Yeah, it turned into a 10-shot difference from yesterday. I feel great, that was my goal to climb up to top of the leaderboard.”
He won the Ever Glory ADT Open in Chinese-Taipei in July and is presently 13th on the Merit list.
May 31: Tanapat Pichaikool showed that he was over with his days of struggle with the game when the Thailand star won the US$160,000 am green IGPL Morocco Rising Stars 2026 on Sunday by two shots.
The 26-year-old started the final round leading by two shots after a magnificent eight-under-par 64 round on Saturday and managed to end it with the same margin on top of the leaderboard following a battling two-under 70.
Tanapat left a good-looking birdie putt inches short of the cup on the 18th hole, but the par was good enough as none of his nearest rivals could make a move.
Runchanapong Youprayong (70) started three shots behind Tanapat and finished third at -14, while Bangladesh’s Siddikur Rahman jumped ahead of him with a birdie on the last hole in his 67.
That birdie on the 18th proved crucial because it sealed Rahman’s place in next week’s US$500,000 am green Bharat Classic, an Asian Tour event at the same Mazagan Beach & Golf Resort venue.
American Henry Chung (67) was in solo fourth place at -13, with the Hong Kong duo of Matthew Cheung (69) and Hoho Yue (70).
Tanapat Pichaikool of Thailand. Picture courtesy: IGPL
The last time Tanapat won was on his 25th birthday in November 2024, when he clinched the Toyota Tour Championship. Even though he held the sole lead throughout the final day, he said it wasn’t easy to get over the line.
Tanapat narrowly missed out on a full card on the Asian Tour last year when he finished 69th in the Order of Merit, as he struggled with his swing, but feels he is close to playing his best golf now.
“I was nervous. For the past five hours, it was all up and down. Golf isn’t that easy when you come down to the last couple of holes trying to win a tournament. You know others want to sneak up and shoot five or six under. I knew I just had to stay in the moment,” said Tanapat.
“Lots of changes in the last 18 months. I just kept believing that the choices I made were good choices.
“Swing-wise, I worked a lot on my downswing. I’ve been doing quite a bit of work for the past two months, and I wasn’t getting the result I wanted. And then, all of a sudden this week, all the things are working.
“I switched the driver shaft (to Mitsubishi Tensei Blue 6X on his PING G440 LST) and I think that’s a fantastic decision I made last week. I changed it probably three days before I flew here. It’s new, but it just clicked. I just saw a couple drive which were straight and all of a sudden, it was just robotic.”
Siddikur Rahman of Bangladesh. Picture by Jason Butler/Asian Tour
Tanapat added that he was very excited about next week’s Asian Tour event.
“Excited, very excited indeed. It’s on the same course, and I feel I know it inside out. I will just try to play the same golf as I did this week, and hopefully, the result is the same again,” he added.
Rahman may have fallen short by a couple of shots, but he still had the smile of a winner after finishing solo second. The 41-year-old Bangladeshi legend, winner of two Asian Tour titles, is in Morocco with his family and will now have to change his air tickets after gaining an entry into next week’s event.
“Honestly, I really enjoyed myself this week. My family is with me, so I really enjoyed my work without any expectation. I thought I would not get into the next two tournaments because I was so down on the waiting list, I had to change my tickets,” said the 2013 Indian Open champion, who lost his Asian Tour card last year after finishing 94th in the Order of Merit.
“I did not expect much and spent the time taking my baby to the swimming pool and the sea. I think it was the experience of playing without much expectation. So, yes, it was really very important to me to play well this week, and I am happy that I get into the next week.”
Runchanapong Youprayong of Thailand. Picture By Ian Walton/Asian Tour
Runchanapong was eyeing that spot, which eventually went to Rahman, and he would rue the finish as he could not convert a single birdie after making three in his first eight holes and getting to within one shot of Tanapat. He then made a bogey on the 10th hole and finished with eight straight pars.
“I felt like I handled myself well out there. I gave myself a lot of chances, but the putter kind of went cold on the back nine. My distance control also felt a bit off with the wind, but it was a great experience overall to be in the last group and be in contention,” said Runchanapong, who improved to third place in the Order of Merit, one ahead of Tanapat.
“I am just trying to take it one tournament at a time. I have finished 12th on the ADT Order of Merit two times (2023 and 2024). That definitely stings a little bit and I’m just trying to improve that.
“I’m just gonna stick around another week, and hopefully, I can sneak in somehow. Let’s see if there are any withdrawals next week so that I get to play because I love this golf course.”
Mazagan Beach & Golf Resort, built on the Atlantic coast of Morocco, will also host next week’s am green IGPL Bharath Classic, a US$500,000 tournament on the Asian Tour. That will be followed by the US$2 million International Series Morocco presented by Visit Morocco. The next ADT event is the US$100,000 DigiPlus Philippine ADT Open from June 17th to 20th.
May 30: Thailand’s Tanapat Pichaikool shot a solid eight-under-par 64 to gain a two-shot advantage going into the final round of the US$160,000 am green IGPL Morocco Rising Stars 2026.
Pichaikool made an early eagle on the par-5 third hole on a windy Mazagan Beach & Golf Resort course, but immediately dropped a shot on the next hole. That was his only mistake as he added seven more birdies after that to reach 15-under par 201 total, two ahead of Argentina’s Franco Scorzato, who shot a bogey-free 67.
Another Thai star, Runchanapong Youprayong, shot a second 67 of the week to reach 12-under and was in solo third place.
American Carson Herron, son of four-time PGA Tour winner Tim, showed his golfing pedigree and shot the lowest round of the tournament. With nine birdies in his bogey-free 63, Herron jumped up 32 places to tied fourth alongside overnight leader Agusti Quinquilla Madalena of Spain (73) and Italy’s Michele Ortolani (66).
Carson Herron of the United States. Picture courtesy: IGPL
The tournament is the fifth leg of the Asian Development Tour (ADT) and is co-sanctioned with the Indian Golf Premier League (IGPL). Among the IGPL players in the field, Syed Saqib Ahmed (70) was the leading contender at seven-under and in tied 14th position.
The 26-year-old Tanapat finished tied sixth in a PGT of India Tour event earlier this year – his only top-10 finish of the season – and is now hoping to get his third ADT win in a tournament that is co-sanctioned by another Indian body – the IGPL.
Having narrowly missed out on a full card on the Asian Tour last year when he finished 69th in the Order of Merit, Tanapat is looking to bounce back to the form of 2024 when he won the Toyota Tour Championship in Malaysia. He has won thrice on the All Thailand Golf Tour since then.
“It was a great round. It was a bit up and down, but I got some good breaks. The game was a bit off for the next few holes and I picked it up with a birdie on the seventh hole and managed to keep up the momentum until the end of the round,” said Tanapat, who finished second to Itthipat Buranatanyarat in the 2024 ADT Order of Merit.
“The last few months have been a lot of swing changes, and a lot of equipment changes as well. That’s why I did not get good results, but I’ve been patient through all those times for this to come. So hopefully, I can keep this going tomorrow.
“I feel that I have been executing pretty well for the past three days, so hopefully tomorrow I can execute the same things. Let’s see what happens.”
Franco Scorzato of Argentina. Picture courtesy: IGPL
Rookie Scorzato, who has not finished outside the top-23 in his last three ADT starts, will try and seal his best finish on the Tour. His previous best was a tied 8th at the Nam A Bank Vietnam Masters.
The 23-year-old made the turn in three-under with three birdies, and then kept bogeys away on the back nine with two more birdies.
“Today was a good round with no bogeys, which is always great. I hit almost every shot from the fairway, giving myself good birdie opportunities. There wasn’t much more to it than that; it was a very clean round, to be honest,” said Scorzato.
“I’m very happy to be in the last group. I think that reflects how well this week has gone, but at the same time, it doesn’t change anything about golf, and my mindset has to stay the same. I have to stay focused and committed to every shot, which is something I think I’ve been doing very well.”
The 23-year-old Herron has missed every cut in Official World Golf Ranking-recognised events this year, but Saturday was a walk in the park after making it to his first weekend of the season.
“I started in the back nine and I was able to put together a bunch of good shots and make a lot of putts. I kind of cooled down a little bit on the front nine. I kept trying to keep the pedal down, and that’s what I want to do tomorrow and just see what I can do.
“I started the week kind of slow, but I started hitting the ball better than I was in my last few tournaments. So, I kind of found something that clicked. I was just trying to hit some good wedge shots and just do well to square the clubs, and just piece it together.”
This week is the fifth stop of the 2026 season on the ADT. Mazagan Beach & Golf Resort, built on the Atlantic coast of Morocco, will also host next week’s am green IGPL Bharath Classic. The International Series Morocco presented by Visit Morocco, will bring the exciting North African adventure to a conclusion in three weeks.
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