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.
China’s Andi Xu produced a spectacular finish of four consecutive birdies to claim his first professional title at The Indonesia Pro-Am presented by Combiphar & Nomura at Gunung Geulis Country Club on Friday.
Xu bounced back from a bogey at the 14th by birdieing each of his remaining four holes, closing with a six-under-par 65 on the West Course to finish the US$125,000 Asian Development Tour event on 18 under.
Australia’s Darcy Brereton applied the pressure all the way to the finish, matching Xu’s 65 and birdieing the 18th to reach 17 under, but the Chinese player responded by converting from five feet at the last to secure a one-stroke victory.
Korea’s Minhyeok Yang had earlier established the clubhouse target after producing the low round of the day, a seven-under 64 that took him to 15 under.
Playing four groups ahead of the final threesome, Yang held the clubhouse lead until the battle between Xu and Brereton developed over the closing holes.
Xu began the final round with a one-shot advantage over Brereton and ADT Order of Merit leader Khavish Varadan and remained unaware of exactly where he stood until reaching the 15th green.
“I didn’t look at the leaderboard until 15, when there was one next to the green,” said Xu. “At that point I was 14 under and I believe I was one behind Darcy.
“I ended up holing the birdie putt from the fringe of the green there and then made a few more putts over the last three to birdie out and win by one.
“On these greens you don’t really know if you’re going to make those 20-footers. I just told myself before every putt, ‘Just hit a good putt. It’s like all the putts you practise. Don’t even think about the score.’ And then they just rolled in.”
Having drawn level with Brereton, Xu birdied the 16th and 17th to take a one-shot advantage to the par-four 18th.
With Brereton alongside him in the final group, Xu opted for caution from the tee while the Australian took the more aggressive route.
“Darcy was 16 under and I was 17 under, so my thought was that I just needed to play it safe. There was no need to take risks,” said Xu.
“I hit four-iron off the tee into the middle of the fairway and Darcy hit driver and had about 50 yards left. I had 130 yards uphill and hit pitching wedge to about five or six feet.
“Darcy hit his chip to about 20 feet and drained the putt. Props to him — he played a great tournament. I just had to step up and make the putt, and thankfully I did.”
Darcy Brereton
Brereton’s birdie briefly drew him level at 17 under, leaving Xu needing to hole his putt to avoid a playoff.
“I thought it was missing right, to be honest,” Xu said. “It was a little high and I was thinking, ‘Please don’t lip out.’ Then it lipped in, so I was very thankful.
“I would not have wanted to go into a playoff after a long tournament!”
The victory was an emotional breakthrough for Xu, who is in his first season competing on the Asian Tour and Asian Development Tour and had not won a tournament since his college days.
“It feels great. Honestly, I haven’t felt anything like this in a long time,” he said.
“My last tournament win was in college and to be able to win on a professional stage like this means the world to me.”
Xu said his primary objective this season had been to continue developing his game, but victory in Indonesia has given him another important step towards establishing himself in Asia.
“The main goal for me is to improve my game, but on top of that it would be nice to keep my card,” he said. “I think this win helps with that goal and moves me forward in the rankings.
“Hopefully I’ll be able to play on this tour next year. To have an Asian Tour card would be really beneficial to my game.”
Brereton, who had started the day one behind Xu, made an early bogey at the first but responded with seven birdies and no further dropped shots to push the eventual champion all the way.
Despite narrowly missing out on the title, the Australian was encouraged by his 17-under total.
“I’ve got to be happy with myself. I had a target in mind of about 15 or 16 under for the week, so to get past that was good,” said Brereton.
“I thought it was going to be harder this year with how much firmer and faster the course was. It played a bit more strategically, but I’m pretty happy.
“You can always look at the ones you missed, but I also made some good ones. Andi played great. There wasn’t much more I could have done, I guess.”
Brereton said the result was particularly satisfying after feeling his performances had not been reflected in his results in recent weeks.
“I feel like I’ve been playing well for some time. I cracked a driver a few weeks ago in Taiwan and didn’t realise until last week, so I feel like I’ve been playing well without getting a result.
“It’s good to finally get right up there in the hunt and have a strong finish.”
Minhyeok Yang
Yang finished alone in third on 15 under following his 64, with Italy’s Michele Ortolani fourth on 14 under after a closing 66.
Varadan, who began the final round alongside Xu and Brereton, carded a 69 to finish fifth on 13 under, while Mexico’s Roberto Lebrija and Indonesia’s Kevin Akbar shared sixth at 11 under.
India’s Khalin Joshi, American Nathan Han and England’s Thomas Plumb completed the top 10 at 10 under.
The Asian Development Tour remains in Indonesia next week for the US$150,000 Ciputra Golfpreneur Tournament at Damai Indah Golf’s BSD Course, where Brereton will look to carry the momentum from his runner-up finish.
“I’m looking forward to Ciputra next week,” he said. “I love the course and I’m looking forward to it.”
China’s Andi Xu fired a seven-under-par 64 to take a one-shot lead after the second round of the US$125,000 Indonesia Pro-Am presented by Combiphar & Nomura at Gunung Geulis Country Club on Thursday.
Xu, who opened with a 66 on the East Course, moved to 12 under after negotiating the West Course in 64 and will head into Friday’s final round one ahead of Australia’s Darcy Brereton and ADT Order of Merit leader Khavish Varadan of Malaysia.
Brereton followed his opening 65 on the West Course with a 66 on the East, while Varadan added a 65 on the West to his first-round 66 to join the Australian on 11 under.
Indonesia’s Kevin Akbar and Thailand’s Nitithorn Thippong share fourth place at 10 under, with Thippong matching Xu’s 64.
Xu’s round contained plenty of scoring opportunities but he said patience on Gunung Geulis’ difficult greens proved just as important as his seven-under score suggested.
“The conditions were tough. Obviously there are a lot of opportunities for birdies, but the greens are really tricky,” said Xu (main picture).
“I actually had two three-putts today, so I just kept my composure, kept hitting good putts and tried to get the speed right.
“The main thing is not to be too aggressive and just keep your pace. The downhill putts are really slippery and you can three-putt very easily, so I was just trying to do the best I could on every shot and not think about the score.”
The 64 represented only a two-shot improvement on his opening round, and Xu felt the difference came primarily on the greens.
“Honestly, I played pretty similarly to yesterday. It was just a matter of how many putts dropped,” he said.
Xu is in his first season competing on the Asian Tour and ADT after playing last year on the PGA Tour of Australasia and said his focus has been on developing his game rather than setting specific targets.
“I’m just trying to improve myself every tournament. I’m not really aiming for a specific score or a specific place,” he said.
“I’m grinding and trying to perfect my game until I’m ready to perform even better on these stages. It’s more about the process rather than trying to finish top five or top 10.”
A victory on Friday would be Xu’s first since his college days three or four years ago and, after struggling with his putting in recent events, he believes his performance this week could represent an important step forward.
“It would be huge. I haven’t won in a while, so it would be a huge boost to my confidence and an affirmation that I’ve been doing the right things,” he said.
“I’ve struggled with my putting in the last few tournaments and this week has been a huge change. I hope I can take this momentum into tomorrow.”
Darcy Brereton
Brereton, meanwhile, has quietly put together two consistent rounds and described his opening 36 holes as largely stress-free.
“It was good. I’ve enjoyed playing here, so it’s been pretty stress-free and pretty enjoyable,” said Brereton. “I hit it well and putted quite nicely. Same as yesterday, it’s been a pretty smooth two days.”
The Australian has particularly good memories of the event after winning the team competition last year and admitted the tournament had been on his radar since the schedule was announced.
“I had this one marked for a while when the schedule came out,” he said. “I thoroughly enjoyed my time here last year and in Indonesia as a whole.
“I love coming here. The course is great and everyone has looked after me really well, so you don’t have to twist my arm to come back.”
Brereton plans few changes for Friday’s final round.
“I probably won’t change too much off the tee. I’ll just keep hitting good shots and hopefully keep holing putts,” he said.
Varadan’s 65 was rather less straightforward.
After beginning his round on the back nine and missing a two-foot putt on his opening hole, the Malaysian quickly recovered and transformed his round with birdies at 14 and 15 followed by an eagle at the par-five 16th.
“It was a good round. I got off to a shaky start and missed a two-footer on my first hole, but then things started moving,” said Varadan.
“I birdied 14 and 15 and eagled 16, and that really propelled my round. After that I felt a little better and managed my game. Everything was pretty solid.
“I actually felt like I played better yesterday, but I’m really thankful for the score today and looking forward to tomorrow.”
Khavish Varadan
Varadan has balanced appearances on the Asian Tour with a busy ADT schedule during his first full season as a professional and sees the Development Tour as an important part of his progression.
“I’m still fresh as a professional, so my goal is to play as many competitive rounds as I can,” he said.
“The ADT is really competitive and we play a variety of different golf courses. I want to win on the ADT and win the Order of Merit and build my career from there.”
Behind the leading five, Finlay Mason, Roberto Lebrija and Michele Ortolani share sixth at nine under, while six players are another stroke back at eight under, including first-round leader Ayoub Lguirati.
Lguirati, who equalled the East Course record with an opening 62, slipped back with a one-over 72 on the West Course.
American Nathan Han, who opened with a 64 on the West, also sits at eight under following a 70 on the East.
First-round runner-up Tim Nielsen followed his opening 63 with a 75 and is four under, eight shots behind Xu.
The cut fell at three under, with 50 professionals advancing to Friday’s final round on the West Course. Play begins at 7am with a two-tee start.
The three-day tournament features a professional stroke-play competition alongside a separate team event pairing each professional with an amateur.
June 18: Argentina’s Franco Scorzato may be struggling with the language and food in Asia, but proved once again that his golf is ready to flower in the continent. For the second successive event on the Asian Development Tour, he moved into contention, snatching the halfway lead in the inaugural US$100,000 DigiPlus Philippine ADT Open.
At the par-72 Luisita Golf and Country Club, Scorzato birdied the 18th hole to shoot a six-under-par 66 round and reached a 10-under-par total after 36 holes. That gave him a one-shot edge over Chinese Taipei’s Ching-hung Su (70), and Japan’s Naoki Sekito (69), who were tied second at nine-under par.
Macau’s Kelvin Si (70) moved to solo fourth place at 138, one ahead of Australia’s Darcy Brereton (67), American Brent Ito (70) and Thai Suttinon Panyo (67).
Overnight leader, Thomas Plumb of England slipped to tied seventh place at six-under total after a round of 74, where he was joined by Malaysians Galven Green (69) and Marcus Lim (72) and Italian Michele Ortolan (68).
Naoki Sekito of Japan. Picture by Ryan Tambalque/ADT
The tournament is offering spots in the US$2 million Philippine Open on The International Series later in the year to the two leading Filipino golfers. Of the 45 Filipino players that made the starting field, 15 made the cut with Sean Ramos (71) the best placed at tied 12th place at five-under par total.
The 23-year-old Scorzato was second by two shots going into the final round of the am green IGPL Morocco Rising Stars earlier this month, but did not have the best Sunday and dropped to tied 12th place. He was confident he had learned enough from his experience to do better this week.
“I’ve played very well over the last two days. My tee shots in particular have been very good and I have been able to take advantage by putting myself in the right positions,” said Scorzato, who made eight birdies in his round.
“Yes, I was in a great position going into that final round in Morocco, but I unfortunately didn’t have a good day. It’s all about the experiences and the learning. I think it will help me going forward into the weekend rounds this week and in the future.”
Ching Hung Su of Chinese Taipei. Picture by Ryan Tambalque/ADT
On his first year in Asia, Scorzato added: “It’s been an incredible experience thus far, from the people, the tournaments to the organisers and the incredible countries I have visited for the very first time.
“I first heard about the Asian Tour via my friend Miguel Carballo (a two-time ADT and Korn Ferry Tour champion). He has been on the Asian Tour for many years and I made the decision to try it out and managed to join through Q School.
“I’ve really enjoyed all the countries I have visited so far. The biggest challenge so far for me is the food and I haven’t quite managed to get accustomed to it yet, but the level of hospitality in all these places has truly been incredible. The people have been so welcoming and amazing.”
Sekito, a three-time champion on the ADT, showed his class on a day when he did not hit the ball too well. He hit only 10 fairways and was one-over after his first eight holes, but somehow battled it out for a three-under 69 in the end.
Sean Ramos of the Philippines. Picture by Ryan Tambalque/ADT
“Compared to yesterday, I would say my hitting was quite bad today. I hit only 10 greens, but I still made a lot of good ups and downs, and like yesterday, my caddy helped me a lot on the green. I had like a 20-footer for birdie on the last hole, and I made it. So, I’m very happy to finish with 69 today,” said Nekito, who is playing his third ADT event of the season.
The 28-year-old revealed he suddenly increased his swing speed while practicing with a baseball bat during the winter months in Japan last year. That led to a drastic change in his club set-up. He is also playing with a new driver and three-wood this week.
“I think last year, I almost changed all 14 clubs in the bag. I used to have six hybrids, so my longest iron was six-iron until last year, but I have my four-iron back now. I started hitting longer last year, and I had to change everything,” said Sekito, whose last ADT win was the 2023 OB Golf Championship.
“I don’t really go to the gym and work out, but last year, when I had no events, like in the first two- three months, I kept on swinging a heavy baseball bat. And once the weather started getting warm, I saw I was actually hitting it longer.”
Including the visit to the Philippines, the ADT is set to have tournaments in seven countries this season. It will also travel to Chinese Taipei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Morocco, Thailand, and Saudi Arabia.
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