BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN
Friday, August 6, 2010
Faiz Damit (pic) just wants to put the Worldwide Holdings Selangor Masters behind him.
Brunei’s most active touring professional shot a disappointing 14-over 85 at the Seri Selangor Golf Club yesterday, a result which spelt the end of his run at the US$300,000 Asian Tour event.
With a two-day total of 21-over 163, the only Bruneian at the event was nowhere near making the cut which was set at five-over 147 and finished 150th in a field of 151.
Despite the poor performance at Seri Selangor, Faiz shouldn’t find it too hard to motivate himself for his next tournament the Mercedes-Benz Masters Singapore.
Faiz created history at last year’s edition of the Asean PGA Tour event at the Laguna National Golf and Country Club when he became the first professional golfer from the Sultanate to make the cut at a professional event.
The four-day tournament last year saw only the Top 61 made the cut with Faiz squeezing in at 60th.
“I have to go out (to Singapore) and forget about this (second round result),” said Faiz when contacted yesterday.
“The conditions were the same as yesterday (Wednesday). Everything was firm, but the greens were alright,” added the Bruneian.
His second time playing at the par-71 course, the Bruneian and various other players found conditions at the Seri Selangor difficult to master.
But the second Bruneian to turn professional didn’t want to use that as an excuse.
“I didn’t have any lucky breaks and nothing was going my way,” sighed the 24-year-old Faiz.
“I didn’t hit good and the putts were not going in. Even if you hit good you still don’t know if you can get a good outcome,” he added.
Thirty of the 61 players who made the cut shot under par yesterday, with the number on Wednesday only 13.
Malaysia’s Paul Lim was the only golfer trailing Faiz, and he was behind the Bruneian by four strokes (167).
Faiz’s second time playing at the Seri Selangor, his first was nearly a year ago when he competed in the Asian qualifiers for the Omega Mission Hills World Cup with Pg S Hassanal Al-Haj PPN PG Hj Omar.
Ending the competition with 309 (74-77-77-81), Faiz’s first appearance at the course wasn’t exactly anything to write home about either.
Only two countries, Mauritius and a disqualified Nepal, finished lower than Brunei in the rankings during the event in which the first and third rounds used the fourball format while the second and final rounds used the foursomes format.
Faiz was hoping to join the Worldwide Holdings Selangor Masters last year but did not make it to the final list of participants because he couldn’t get into the entry list.
He was placed on the reserves list prior to the start of the competition but never got the chance to take his clubs out.
Malaysia’s Airil Rizman shared the clubhouse lead with Australian duo Scott Barr and Brad Smith after a topsy-turvy second round at the Worldwide Holdings Selangor Masters yesterday.
Airil, the first-round leader, battled to one-over 72 at Seri Selangor Golf Club to lead on a four-under 138 with Smith, who carded a 69 and Barr, who fired an impressive 67.
The second round of the Asian Tour event was not completed due to a two-hour weather suspension, with 26 players having to return this morning to finish their rounds.
Promising Thai youngster Namchoak Tantipokakul was five-under for the tournament through 15 holes while Thai-based American Corey Harris shot a 67 to move into contention on 139.
It was a memorable day for unheralded Filipino Ferdinand Aunzo who produced an albatross at the par-five fifth hole with a seven iron, the first in three years on the Asian Tour.
Airil, the overnight leader, was probably wishing that his shots were finding their range as well after a mixed bag with one eagle, two birdies, three bogeys and one double. “I wasn’t feeling too nice with my swing and pretty much pulled a lot of shots. I thought I could shoot one under or even par but I made double on 17. I messed up. I didn’t concentrate hard enough,” said Airil.
The 26-year-old rookie Smith, who came through the American collegiate system, stayed in the hunt for his first Asian Tour victory with a solid round highlighted by three straight birdies on the back nine, sparked by a 20-foot conversion on 12.
The Brunei Times
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