India’s Pukhraj Singh Gill had a early start this morning to finish off his first round following yesterday’s weather delay, but he took full advantage of the morning conditions to fashion a two shot lead at the Nam A Bank Vietnam Masters.

Closing out his first round with a 64, he went on to post a three-under par 69 to finish the day at eleven under in the US$85,000 Asian Development Tour event, which is being held from June 12-14 at Royal Long An Golf & Villas near Ho Chi Minh city.

Gill leads the field from Indonesia’s Jonathan Wijono (67) in solo second on nine under, ahead of Thailand’s Witchayanon Chothirunrungrueng (67) in third place on eight under par.

“I feel very good, very pleased with myself,” said Gill after his round. “I kept on striding from what I built up yesterday. I didn’t get as lucky as I did yesterday with a couple of bad shots and I had to suffer a few bogeys but I made a good comeback, I had five birdies on the card and finished with a birdie as well.

“I think the wind here is a constant regardless of what time you are teeing off. We did have a slightly calmer front nine today in the morning so I was able to capitalise on that a little bit,” he added.

Singapore’s Koh Deng Shan (68) is showing a return to form with another sub par round to share fourth spot with Australia’s Todd Sinnott (69) and Malaysia’s Galven Green (69).

In seventh place, on six under, Liu Yung-hua (68) of Chinese Taipei improved on his round one score to sit alongside Vietnamese amateur Nguyen Anh Minh, Pakistan’s Ahmad Baig and Jakraphon Premsirigorn of Thailand, all of whom posted a 69 today to match their first round scores.

Indonesia’s Jonathan Wijono pictured in action during Round Two of the Nam A Bank Vietnam Masters. The US$85,000 Asian Development Tour event is being held at Royal Long An Golf & Villas from June 12-14, 2024. Picture courtesy Vietnam Golf Association

Thammasack Bouahom (67) of Laos was one of the early finishers today and was pleased with the early conditions after hitting 17 out of 18 greens.

“I hit it a lot better today, definitely better off the tee which gave me a lot of opportunities to go at the flag. Also, I didn’t make a bogey today, just hitting a lot of greens so that made a difference,” he said.

“Yesterday afternoon was really windy for sure, but this morning was calm for the first 10-12 holes so that made it lot easier. The greens were rolling really, really nice today, so definitely easier in the morning. I’m looking forward to tomorrow, and I hope to make some more putts,” he added.

Thammasack sits in a group now six off the lead going into the final round of this three day tournament, including Thailand’s Runchanapong Youprayong who posted the low round of the day with a seven under par 65.

Runchanapong, who scored seven birdies in an error-free round, made a dramatic recovery from his first round score of 74, revealing an adjustment overnight to his putting technique made all the difference.

“Yesterday I thought I was putting well but i didn’t make any putts,” he said after his round. “I made some adjustments after the round and today I felt more relaxed putting and made a few more.”

Also sharing 11th place are the Thai duo of Nopparat Panichphol and Natipong Srithong, Malaysia’s Shahriffuddin Ariffin and Paul San, Sunhit Bishnol of India, Australia’s Jared Edwards, Ben Jones of England, Liu Yanwei of China and Indonesia’s Rory Hie.

All players completed their rounds today and with the cut set at one under par, a total of 52 players will battle it out for honours with play set to resume at 6.40 am and the last groups teeing off at 8am local time (GMT +7).

Thailand’s Tanapat Pichaikool edged his way into the lead at the Nam A Bank Vietnam Masters, posting a six under par 66 just before play was stopped in Round One at 5.28pm due to the threat of lightning.

Seven groups remain out on the course in the US$85,000 Asian Development Tour event, which is being held from June 12-14 at Royal Long An Golf & Villas, a championship course designed by Sir Nick Faldo on the outskirts of Ho Chi Minh.

Tanapat posted seven birdies to secure his position, the only blemish on his card coming with a bogey on the par thee ninth hole, his last of the day. He holds a one shot advantage over compatriot Natipong Srithong and Korea’s Park Sang-ho.

“I putted very well today, said Tanapat after posting his score. “Some makeable long putts definitely helped my round. My ball striking was good but today it was windy so you couldn’t get the ball close enough, thankfully my putting solved that problem

“The course was set up great,” he enthused. “It’s a good challenge on some of the long par fours and the par fives so I’m just going to try to do the same thing tomorrow,” he added.

Vietnamese amateur Nguyen Anh Minh pictured in action during Round One of the Nam A Bank Vietnam Masters. The US$85,000 Asian Development Tour event is being held at Royal Long An Golf & Villas from June 12-14, 2024. Picture courtesy Vietnam Golf Association

Park, who held the clubhouse lead for most of the day, took advantage of some local knowledge and a turn of form to open up his lead.

“I missed only one green today and made a very good birdie putt, it wasn’t short. I putted very well today which was kind of lucky. I don’t usually putt like that,” he said after his round.

A former Korean PGA Tour player who moved to Vietnam eight years ago, Park is a regular at the Nam A Bank tournament and welcomed its elevation to the ADT this year.

“I’ve played here the last few years on the local tour but this year it is an ADT event so the setup was very tough for me.

“I used to play on the Korean tour but I don’t play on any other tours now, just some local events here. I’m glad I had the chance to play with the ADT here,” he added, “it’s been fun.”

Of those players who finished their rounds, Indonesia’s Jonathan Wijono shares fourth place on four under par with Australia’s Todd Sinnot and the Malysian duo of Galven Green and Paul San.

Singapore’s Koh Deng Shan sits in eight spot on three under par, together with Thailand’s Jakraphan Premsirigorn and Witchaynon Chothirunrungrueng, Liu Yanwei of China, Vietnamese amateur Nguyen Anh Minh and Pakistan’s Ahmad Baig who currently leads the ADT Order of Merit.

Round One will resume tomorrow morning at 6.30am and Round Two will continue as scheduled.