By KRISTEL SATUMBAGA
Koreans Cho Wooyoung and Wang Jeunghun powered their way to a clubhouse lead with Thai Sarut Vongchaisit and Travis Smyth after turning in identical two-under-par 70 halfway through the Philippine Golf Championship presented by the Philippine Sports Commission on Friday, Feb. 6, at the Wack Wack Golf and Country Club in Mandaluyong City.
Cho, who started on hole No. 10, gunned down four birdies — including one on his final hole, the ninth. He three-putted for a bogey on No. 2 and dropped another shot on No. 8, finishing two rounds at five-under 139 after an opening 69 in the $500,000 event supported by BingoPlus and MVPSF.
A two-year pro who is seeking his first Asian Tour title, Cho admitted difficulty in solving the challenging cow grass fairways the past two days.
“It’s the first time I played on [this type of grass] and it’s so much different in Korea and the US, so I just keep trying to be on the safe area. It’s hard to control the distance,” said Cho.
Wang, meanwhile, produced a bogey-free round, birdying the fourth and 16th holes, while Vongchaisit stayed on top after shooting a 71.
Vongchaisit had a tough start after bogeying three of his first seven holes, but picked himself up in the remaining holes by firing four birdies.
“Front nine was not too good for me. I didn’t keep it in play there, but on the back nine, I just kept telling myself to be confident and so, three-under on the back nine made me really happy,” said Vongchaisit.
Smyth briefly grabbed the solo lead late in the afternoon after sinking a seven-foot eagle putt on the 14th hole, but stumbled with a bogey on the 17th to finish with a 69.
Ian Snyman (68) and Marcus Plunkett (70) trailed the four leaders by one shot.
Fil-Canadian Brycen Ko also made his move with a 70, while Fil-German Keanu Jahns remained steady with a 71 to keep within three shots of the leaders at 142.
Ko said his patience paid off on this round.
“The biggest key for me today is I hit a lot of greens, so a lot of birdie attempts,” he said.
“I had a lot of putts that were burning edges. In the past, maybe I’d get a little bit more aggressive to chase those down, but in this golf course, it is important to just stay patient,” Ko added.
Overall, seven Filipino made the cut.
Joining Ko and Jahns were Fidel Concepcion (73-144), Carl Jano Corpus (71-144), Jhonnel Ababa (74-146), Rupert Zaragosa (71-146), and Enrique Dimayuga (72-148).
