CHONGQING, 9 Sept 2016, (HK Golfer News Wire) - Gunn Charoenkul is not a long hitter, and with constant rain Friday during the second round of the Chongqing Jiangnan NewTown KingRun Open, KingRun Nanshan Golf Club played even longer than a day earlier. It didn’t seem to bother Charoenkul at all. On a day when the rain forced officials to delay the start of play for 30 minutes, Charoenkul followed his opening, 7-under 65 with a second-round 68 to take a one-shot lead over Hong Kong’s Shun Yat Hak at the halfway point.
Charoenkul, native of Bangkok, Thailand, has had minimal difficulty through the first 36 holes. Despite three bogeys Friday, Charoenkul, ranked No. 457 in the Official World Golf Ranking, offset those miscues with seven birdies, including two in a row to finish his round (on Nos. 8 and 9).
“Today was tough. It was raining all day. It was a wet day, and there were a few mistakes out there. The forecast said it was going to be an all-day rain, so I think I was mentally prepared for it. But I had to stay patient out there.”
It didn’t hurt that for the second consecutive day, Charoenkul, winner of the 2014 Yulongwan Yunnan Open in the Ping An Bank China Tour – PGA TOUR China Series’ inaugural year, had his putter working. And his irons weren’t bad, either. When he wasn’t rolling in a 27-foot birdie putt (No. 15), he was knocking in short birdies on No. 5 (five feet), No. 14 (four feet) and No. 18 (three feet) set up by precise iron play.
“I did have a lot of long irons into greens today, so I didn’t really go for the pins that much. But there were a few chances to do that, and I took advantage of those opportunities,” Charoenkul continued.
Hak has seemingly had no difficulty putting himself in position to contend in the first and second rounds of his last three events. It’s been the weekend where he’s struggled. As if working from a script, Hak shot 66 Thursday and turned in a 68 Friday. In his last six first and second rounds, his scoring average is 66.33. But at the Ping An Private Bank Wanda Open and the Yulongwan Yunnan Open, Hak’s weekend scoring average has ballooned to 74.00. He hopes to remedy that issue over his next two days.