Struggling much more than anticipated and thanks to two birdies in his last four holes, David Puig (-5) has managed to just make the cut at the IRS Prima Malaysian Open, an Asian Tour tournament being held at The Mines Resort & Golf Club, a course of the Mines Beach Resort in Selangor. However, his chances of fighting for one of the three spots for the Open Championship at Royal Troon that are distributed in this event seem to have significantly diluted…
The day started in an unbeatable way for the young golfer from La Garriga: sensational eagle putting from outside the green on the par four of the first hole and birdie to the par four of hole 5 to get closer to the top positions in the classification. However, as he approached the middle of his round, everything started to go wrong for Puig… Bogey at 8, double bogey at 10 and two more bogeys, at 12 and 13, to not only lose distance but seriously complicate his chances of playing over the weekend.
For a few minutes, the Catalan was out of the tournament. And after making a birdie at 15, the cut, which was at four under par, rose to five under, so he needed another birdie in his last three holes to avoid an early farewell. Fortunately for his interests, he achieved it on the par five of the 17 to close a round of 71 strokes, five more than yesterday and at par, in which almost all his statistics worsened significantly.
He reduced his number of fairways from 11 to nine, needed five more putts than Thursday to complete his round and was only able to match the number of greens in regulation, 11 out of 18. David will have the opportunity to continue playing over the weekend and, why not, try to squeeze the most out of the ‘moving day’ tomorrow with the aim of cutting distances and giving himself an option for Sunday. Although the leadership shared by Australian Kevin Yuan (-13) and young Malaysian rookie Khavish Varadan (-13) is no less than eight strokes away…
Australia's Kevin Yuan rises to the top of the leaderboard after firing a sizzling 64. He takes the clubhouse lead by one over John Catlin of the United States on -13. 🙌
Current standings: https://t.co/QQChqRrghk#IRSPrima #MalaysianOpen #whereitsAT pic.twitter.com/bbH6S9A9eb
— Asian Tour (@asiantourgolf) February 16, 2024
John Catlin (-12), one stroke behind the leaders, marks the area where the three spots for the Open next July are distributed. A significant disadvantage for Puig not so much for the number of strokes to make up, but for the fifty or so players he has ahead of him. Although seeing results like the 62 from Ervin Chang (-10) this Friday, it is advisable not to rule anything out yet. Carlos Pigem (PAR), the other Spaniard in this tournament, was able to improve his result from Thursday, handing in a card of 69 strokes, but he misses the cut and says goodbye to this open of Malaysia.
