Singapore’s Sock Hwee Koh leads the way at the midway mark of the LET Pre Qualifier event in Asia, after a second round score of 71 at Classic Golf and Country Club.
The 32-year-old backed up her first round score of 70 in New Delhi with another strong showing on Wednesday to leave her on -3 overall, and hold a one-shot advantage over India’s Hitaashee Bakshi and Wenyung Keh of New Zealand.
Koh rolled in three birdies in her second round, including one on the final hole of the day to take the advantage into the final two days in India, as players compete to earn a place at the Final Qualifier later in the year.
“I’ve played really consistent these past two days, I think the greens are really tricky though. I actually played well today but no putts were dropping,” Koh said.
“I gave myself lots of chances but just no putts dropped, so I just hang on in there and finally one did on the last hole.
“The course isn’t set up that tough, but the greens are really tricky so it’s not easy to make that many putts, I hit it really close on the 12th for a tap-in birdie, and it felt like one of those days where you had to hit it that close to actually make a birdie.”
Things didn’t start well for Koh on Wednesday with a dropped shot on her first hole of the day, but a birdie on the ninth soon got her back on track, before picking up another on the 12th after a superb approach into the green leaving her with a short putt.
And despite dropping a shot on the 16th, Koh quickly made amends on the last to put herself as standalone leader with 36 holes left to play in New Delhi.
The Singaporean is no stranger to competing on Indian soil, having competed at the 2018 Hero Women’s Indian Open, while she has spent the last five months competing on the Women’s All Pro Tour in the United States.
Koh took victory in the Bella Vista Charity Classic held in Arkansas earlier this year, and is keen to test her game against the best in the world, and has put herself in pole position to earn herself a place at La Manga Club for Final Qualifier in December.
“I usually play in Asia, but at the moment there is no domestic tour in Singapore, so the last two years have just been nothing,” she continued.
“So me and another Singaporean professional made the decision to go to the US this year to play on the WPAT, and just got back to Singapore in September.
“It would be great to get a place on the LET, I love to travel round Europe and I really look forward to going to Spain if things go well this week.
“I played the Hero Women’s Indian Open a couple of years ago and the quality of players was really good, so hopefully I can join the tour next year and play some bigger events.”
Bakshi and Keh sit one shot off the lead as we reach halfway in India, with rounds of 74 and 72 respectively as they consolidate their places at the top of the leaderboard.
After holding the overnight lead with an opening round of 68, Bakshi dropped three shots in her opening two holes to fall back among the leading pack, before recovering with a birdie on the third to pull herself back into contention.
A roller-coaster of a round then saw four more bogeys and birdies apiece – including picking up two crucial shots in her final two holes – to keep her in the mix heading into Thursday’s action.
And she sits alongside New Zealand’s Keh after trough two, with an opening round score of 70 backed up with a solid round of 72 on Wednesday, after 15 consecutive pars following a bogey on the first and birdie on the third.
Thailand’s Onkanok Soisuwan finds herself in fourth spot on -1 after 36 holes with a second round 69 the pick of the bunch from day two’s efforts after four birdies in her day and a single dropped shot coming on the third.
Indian duo Sneha Singh and Neha Tripathi are tied for fifth on +1 after rounds of 71 and 73 respectively, while South Africa’s Cara Gorlei is one of three players on +2, with Jordan O’Brien and Jahanvi Bakshi for company.
