Borja Martín (-1) keeps the dream of making it to the Final of the School of the Asian Tour very much alive after fighting a monumental battle on the second day of the semi-final being held at the Phoenix Gold Golf Club in Thailand.
His round was a relentless fight, a fabulous exchange of strokes. He started with a birdie on the 1st, followed by two bogeys on the 2nd and 4th, responded with another two birdies on the 5th and 6th, another bogey fell on the 11th, birdie on the 14th, one more bogey on the 17th and finished with birdie on the 18th. Pim, pam, pum. An extraordinary give and take to come out victorious with a card of 69 strokes, one below par.
With the accumulated result of one under par, the golfer from San Sebastián has placed himself in 24th place, just two strokes from the great goal, which is none other than to finish among the first 18 (ties do not count) to qualify for the School Final to be held next week also in Thailand. There are 36 holes left and he has it within reach.
The downside of the day was for Mario Galiano (+7). The Andalusian golfer has suffered a lot in the first part of the course. He started with a triple bogey on the 10th and a bogey on the 11th, a score of +4 in just two holes. Instead of stopping the bleeding, by his eighth hole, the 17th of the course, he had placed himself with a score of eight over par on the day. Definitely, the tournament was slipping through his fingers.
However, instead of throwing in the towel and letting himself go, Galiano has known how to grit his teeth and has found something in the last ten holes that allows him to keep hope. He harvested four birdies on the 18th, 4th, 5th and 6th and proved to himself that he still has things to say this week. Pity the final bogey, although the feeling of the last holes has been good.
Mario knows that tomorrow he will need something special to overcome the cut expected after the first 54 holes. Entering the first 60 and tied. Galiano is five strokes from that first goal. It’s difficult, but not impossible. It’s about following the dynamics of the last ten holes he played today in Bangkok.
As we say, after the third round there will be a cut with the sixty best and tied and after the fourth round the 18 best without ties will get into the final. Once in the School Final, the first 35 will achieve a category in the Asian circuit, although the real quality cards will be the first two.
Beyond the Spaniards, the lead at the Phoenix Golf Golf continues to be for the Korean Changwoo Lee (-9). Among the first 18 are currently the Swede Kristoffer Broberg (-4), a familiar face from the DP World Tour, and the Argentine Abel Gallegos (-3), champion of the Latin America Amateur and participant in the Masters of Augusta.
