Forrest goes low to climb to the top in Japan
Trio tied on the DP World Tour after day two - Forrest, Janewattananond and Herbert
Scotland’s Grant Forrest had the best round of the day after firing an eight under par 62 at the ISPS HANDA-CHAMPIONSHIP to move to the top of the leaderboard at 10 under total through 36 holes.
The 29-year-old with one DP World Tour win on his CV had nine birdies and a solitary bogey at PGM Ishioka Golf Club in Omitama, Japan. Currently ranked 37th in the Race to Dubai he’s notched two top 10’s so far this season, most recently at the Singapore Classic but the standout was at the Rolex Series event in January at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship.
Low round of the week
A couple of impressive days’ for Forrest who is looking for more of the same over the next two.
“I’m looking forward to the weekend. The course is firming up a bit. There have been some tucked pins and I imagine it will stay the same going into the weekend.”
Forrest isn’t alone at the top of the leaderboard. Joining him there is Thailand’s Jazz Janewattananond and Australian Lucas Herbert who has two DP World Tour wins already, the 2020 Omega Dubai Desert Classic and the 2021 Dubai Duty Free Irish Open.
Janewattananond made five birdies over his last seven holes to then sign for a seven under 63. A second round score matched by Hebert who had nine birdies and two bogeys on Friday.
“I’m driving it well, it’s a golf course where you get a lot of looks if you drive it well and get on the fairway, some shorter clubs into the greens” said Herbert.
“I feel like it’s setting up for me well so far. The putter started to behave today. It’s a golf course I can play well on and I feel comfortable out here.”
Germany’s Maximilian Kieffer is one shot back in solo 4th while Takumi Kanaya is the best of the Japanese players sitting at 8 under par with a total of 21 local players made the weekend on this co-sanctioned event with the DP World Tour and JGTO.
UAE residents after Day Two:
T8 - Rafa Cabrera Bello (-7)
T88 - Adri Arnaus (Par) MC
T107 - Nicolas Colsaerts (+2) MC
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