Thai duo Supravee Phatam and Charng-Tai Sudsom managed to reclaim some ground on overnight leader Kevin Akbar of Indonesia in the second Indo Masters Golf Invitational presented by TNE today, setting the stage for a shoot-out in the final round at Imperial Klub Golf in Jakarta.

The trio lead by one shot from Indonesia’s George Gandranata (70) and Benita Kasiadi (68), together with Sweden’s Oscar Zetterwall (69), Deyen Lawson (67) of Australia and Japan’s Naoki Sekito (69) on six under.

Akbar (70), who won the Indonesia Pro-Am presented by Combiphar and Nomura at Gunung Geulis Country Club In August, was pleased with his round but struggled to find the hole in this US$75,000 Asian Development Tour event.

“I played pretty solid today,” he said after his round. “I made a few mistakes but small mistakes. I hit a lot of greens but my putting was a bit cold. Missed a couple of good chances but it’s OK.

Kevin Akbar of Indonesia pictured in action at the second Indo Masters Golf Invitational presnted by TNE on October 12, 2023. Picture by Yulius Martinus / OB Golf

“Tomorrow same thing, try to hit a lot of fairways, hit a lot of greens and hopefully the putter will be hot. I’m not thinking about it too much, anything can happen in 18 holes. I just want to keep the right mindset through the round and hopefully play better,” he added.

Sudsom (68), who turned in a colourful scorecard after his round with eight birdies and four bogeys, was more circumspect but managed to take some positives from his round, even though he started poorly.

“I was struggling on my second hole (11th) when I three putted,” he explained. “I’ve been working on my mental game so I just tried to keep a good mindset and be more consistent in my game.

“The afternoon was quite windy yesterday but it was a lot calmer today. Tomorrow I’m just going to play my own game. A win would mean a lot to me for next year but if not, I’ll be fine, I just hope to keep playing good golf,” he added.

Supravee Phatam of Thailand pictured in action at the second Indo Masters Golf Invitational presnted by TNE on October 12, 2023. Picture by Yulius Martinus / OB Golf

In ninth spot, England’s Joe Heraty (70) maintained his sight on the leaders. together with Thailand’s Pattaraphol Khanthatcha (69) and Chonjarern Baramithanaseth (70).

Italy’s Andrea Saracino (73) shares 12th place with Thailand’s Vanchai Luangnitikul (69), followed by the Thai trio of Sarut Vongchaisit (67), Pisitchai Thippong (69) and Thanpisit Omsin (72).

Australia’s Aaron Wilkin (66), winner of the BRG Open Golf Championship in Vietnam in August, had a woeful opening round after just recently arriving back from Europe, but he managed to claw his way out of the cut zone and resume his fight for the season’s honours with the low round of the day.

Currently second in the Order of Merit following his win in Vietnam, and with leader Yuvraj Singh Sandhu playing in the SJM Macau Open on the Asian Tour, Wilkin revealed he was trying not to think about the pressure from players coming up behind him.

“It does a little bit, to be honest. I had a lot of head noise yesterday afternoon. I shot four over and I had to knuckle down. I did some practice yesterday and I just tried to reset and make the cut at least. That was my goal and hopefully tomorrow I can shoot a real low one.

Oscar Zetterwall of Sweden pictured in action at the second Indo Masters Golf Invitational presnted by TNE on October 12, 2023. Picture by Yulius Martinus / OB Golf

“I’m starting to feel a little better after coming back from Europe, I think I underestimated the travel and jet lag and probably let myself go a little bit mentally yesterday.

“Today I still scored well when I wasn’t really in the fairway, always just off to the sides. I feel you need to be in the fairway to attack some of these pins, so tomorrow that will be my strategy, try and keep it a little bit straighter so I can go at more flags.”

The final round of the Indo Masters Golf Invitational presented by TNE starts tomorrow at 6.27 am. A total of 54 players made the cut from a from a field of 120 in the Asian Development Tour’s ninth event of the 2023 season.