JEDDAH: Mexico’s Abraham Ensor and American Cameron Young took advantage of calm afternoon conditions on Friday to top the leaderboard in first and second place at the midway point of the PIF Saudi International run by SoftBank Investment Advisors.
Ensor followed his tournament low 63 with a 4-under-par 66 on Thursday to take a one-shot lead into the weekend at Royal Greens Golf & Country Club. It was another near-perfect round for the 31-year-old with five birdies and his first fault of the tournament coming in on 17.
After the round, Ensor said: “I’m very pleased with the way I’m rolling it and hitting it off the tee. Also my iron play has been pretty good, so I’m happy with my game.
“A little burnt out on that bogey on 17 from a really great spot and dropped my first shot of the tournament, but very happy with my game and the way my body feels, the way my swing feels. Yes, very happy.
Sitting one shot behind 10-under par, Young is enjoying his first appearance at the Royal Greens with two bogey-free rounds of 65. “It went great. I think there’s a lot of fun in the air. We have to hit a lot of shots and I played really well.”
Sodom Kewkanjana and Ratanchanan Chantananuwat have shown why they are two of Asia’s most exciting young prospects by climbing the leaderboards at the international level.
The 24-year-old Kevkanjana carded a four-under-par 66, making the most of the morning’s calm conditions in contrast to the overcast weather she played on Thursday afternoon.
He said: “I am happy. It was very windy yesterday afternoon, but I played solid. Today I am happy to play in the morning in the second group. So, everything is good. My tee shot, my iron, all good. I expect tomorrow and the last days to be similar to the first two days.”
Compatriot Chantanuvat, known as “TK” after the first two rounds at the Asian Tour’s premier event, showed maturity beyond his years. The 15-year-old amateur, with rounds of 67 and 66, sits in a tie for sixth place with Lucas Herbert. It was a tale of two halves for the young star after going on the front nine in an impressive six on Friday. An over-par-under-par before battling the wind to return the back-nine.
“I have to split it into two because I played exceptionally well in the first seven, made five birdies. I was very happy about it. I actually played even better yesterday, in fact, I just didn’t take advantage of my chances like I did today.
“I’m really happy with the last 11 holes, because it was an all-out scramble, and to shoot 1-over in these conditions, I could have easily shot 4-over. I made so many clutch Made a par putt and finally birdie putt. Overall, very happy with my run as I have improved in many aspects compared to two months back.”
Marc Leishman had the day’s low round with a 6-under-par 66 to get two shots back from Kavkanjana and Louis Oosthuizen, who ended the round with an eagle on 18th.
Defending champion Harold Warner III from the US also made a strong move, carding a 66 to jump into a tie for 11th, six shots behind the leader.
The midway cut was made with those making it on the level-par in last places. Lee Westwood, Joaquin Niemann, and Jazz Janwetannond are all notable names who made it to the mark over the weekend and will look to climb the leaderboard on the day of moving.