Hong Kong's Matthew Cheung shoots six-under 64 in Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship
Thai golfer Ekpharit Wu also moves into contention at Clearwater Bay Golf & Country Club
Hong Kong’s Matthew Cheung stormed into contention at the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship after a blazing second round of six-under-par 64 on Friday morning.
Cheung fired five birdies and an eagle as he bounced back from his 71 in the first round to stand at five-under 135 at the halfway stage at Clearwater Bay Golf & Country Club.
Jin Cheng fires tournament record 62 in first round
“I went to the range a little bit yesterday afternoon and kind of found something so I hit it a little better today and finally saw some putts drop, which was good,” said Cheung, who is studying and playing golf in the United States.
I went to the range a little bit yesterday afternoon and kind of found something so I hit it a little better today and finally saw some putts drop, which was good
“I had a lot of good saves for par and that just kept my round going, and kept me in the game.”
Cheung, who was born in Hong Kong and also lived in Brisbane, Australia, said playing in America has helped his game.
“Moving away from home recently, going to university in the States has really made me mature a lot quicker,” he said. “Because over there we don’t really have much except friends and you’ve got to learn to do everything yourself, so I feel like that’s really taught me a lot and it’s certainly helping.”
Cheung’s only bogey was at the par-four 17th, which was his eighth hole of the day after he teed off from the 10th. He responded immediately by shooting eagle on the 18th, having earlier picked up birdies on 11 and 16.
The eagle fired him up for the second nine with birdies on four, five and seven.
Also moving into contention was Thailand’s Ekpharit Wu, whose second straight three-under 67 gave him a two-round total of six-under 134.
China’s Jin Cheng set the course alight on Thursday with his tournament record eight-under 62.
The winner of the 72-hole tournament gains an invitation to play in next year's US Masters at Augusta National.
The second round was continuing on Friday afternoon.
