By Matt Smith
Thailand’s Itthipat Buranatanyarat said this week he has benefited greatly from playing in two star-studded LIV Golf Invitational events this year, and it showed today as he added a second round five-under-par 67 to his first round 64 to take the lead in the US$500,000 Mandiri Indonesia Open.

He leads the Asian Tour event on 13-under par at Pondok Indah Golf Course, having not dropped a shot in two days and carded 13 birdies.

South Korea’s Minkyu Kim, winner of the Korea Open in June, and American Berry Henson, chasing his first win on Tour in 11 years, both carded 67s to sit two back.

Weather delays on Thursday meant the event is playing catch up: 24 players were unable to finish on Friday. They include Hong Kong amateur star Taichi Kho, the joint-first round leader with Itthipat, and Chinese-Taipei’s Chang Wei-lun. Kho is 11-under with four to play and Chang 12-under with two to go.

“Today I started with not hitting my tee shots so well; I hit hooks on three holes in a row. But I tried to get my confidence back, and it came back,” said Itthipat.

“Then I started hitting the fairways so I could hit the greens. So today was one more round for me with no bogeys, bogey free again two days in a row. So yeah, I feel good.”

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