Dubai-based South African MG Keyser slipped down the leaderboard from tied 10th to tied 37th in the Royal’s Cup at Grand Prix Golf Club, Thailand on Saturday.
A front nine holes of 39 strokes by the 35-year-old was not what he was looking for. Keyser then somewhat recovered and post a two-over par scorecard. The South African, who represents Jumeirah Golf Estates, has hit an impressive 44 out of 54 greens in regulation to date, but his putting statistics per round of: 29, 33 and 32 leave him well down the list with the flat stick.
Keyser, the 2019 MENA Tour Order of Merit champion, will complete this week’s $400,000 tournament on Sunday before playing in next week’s $1.5 million International Series — Thailand to be played at Black Mountain Golf Club as part of the 144-player field, which includes fellow Dubai-based player Shiv Kapur of India, the latter sitting in 32nd place on the 2022 Asian Tour Order of Merit after just one qualifying event so far.
Second-round leader, Chan Shih-chang continued to shoot the lights out in the Royal’s Cup after carding a five-under-par 67 to lead on 19-under. Just three players are within six shots of the leader, with the champion likely to come from these four players.
American Sihwan Kim is a stroke behind after firing a 66, while Sadom Kaewkanjana from Thailand is two shots further back following a 67.
Kim is in search of his first win as a professional and is going about it in the right way having not dropped a shot in the tournament yet.
Kim finished eighth in the 2013 European Challenge Tour rankings and finished tied 29th in the 2013 Dubai Festival City Challenge Tour Grand Final to gain his European Tour playing privileges for the first time.
“I am enjoying playing this course and I’m playing really well but there is still one more day to go,” said Kim, a former top amateur having won the 2004 US Junior before later attending the prestigious Stanford University, at the same time as American Michelle Wie.
The American was in contention in both Phuket and the Singapore Open before recording top-four finishes, and has not missed a cut on the Asian Tour since its restart late last year.
