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Kuala Lumpur, October 27: Jeff Overton set a new course record at The MINES Resort & Golf Club in Kuala Lumpur today when he shot a 9-under-par 62 in the second round of the CIMB Asia Pacific Classic Malaysia.
This superlative golf was borne of seven birdies and an eagle and gave the 28-year-old a share of the lead with Sweden’s Fredrik Jacobson, who himself played with much aplomb as he signed for a 7-under 64.
The leaders were tied on 13-under at the top of the leaderboard, a stroke ahead of Bo Van Pelt and four in front of Mark Wilson, Stewart Cink, Jimmy Walker and Jhonattan Vegas. The foursome were bunched on 9-under-par 133, while Cameron Tringale was one back on 8-under.
First round leader Robert Allenby lost the touch that had him match the then course record 63 as he slumped to a 1-over-par 71 to settle for a share of ninth place on 7-under 136, along with Camilo Villegas, Jerry Kelly and Carl Pettersson.
On a day when 35 players in the field of 48 shot under-par, Overton’s round stood out like a beacon and had the spotlight trained squarely on him.
A native of Evansville, Indiana, Overton opened the second round with three straight birdies and after the first eight holes, he was 5-under.
He was 4-under for the par-36 back nine, which was highlighted by an eagle on the 292-yard par-4 15th. That came after he drove the green and buried the putt for a two.
Speaking of his excellent effort, Overton said: “I just played really well.
“A couple of weeks ago, I changed golf clubs. I got some new irons in the bag, some new Cleveland forged blades that just came out about a month ago.
“My golf just improved so much. I finished 6th basically the first week I used them, at the McGladrey Classic. I was hitting it really good but kind of struggling with my putter.
“Today, everything just clicked. I think I made one putt outside 8 feet. I was hitting everything stone cold, and it was a lot of fun.”
Commenting on his lowest round yet in a PGA Tour-sanctioned event, Overton said: “This is my lowest ever (on the PGA Tour). I just wish I would have hit that last putt an inch harder (on the 18th hole). It was a lot of fun.
“This golf course is so much fun to play. It’s really challenging. If you’re hitting it great, you can have scoring opportunities. I’m just having a blast.”
Jacobson had a blast of his own. The 33-year-old from Gottenburg, Sweden, started with a birdie at the first hole and then nailed eight birdies for his 7-under.
From the 12th hole Jacobson strung together four consecutive birdies and added another at the par-5 17th to duly take a share of the lead at the US$6.1 million tournament jointly sanctioned by the Asian Tour, PGA Tour and the Professional Golf Association of Malaysia.
Jacobson acknowledged that his driving was key to his good form, when he said: “These last few days, my driving has been setting up a lot of opportunities.
“I’ve been driving it well and on this course, if you drive it on the fairways, it’s not overly long and it gives you opportunities.
“I’ve had a break for four weeks after the Tour Championship and spent a bit of time where Callaway came up with a new driver where you can move the weights around and it’s been working for me tremendously for the first couple of days. I’m happy with that.”
He added: “I made a few nice putts. I’ve had a lot of short looks and made a few; and also made a few long ones as well. It has been a bit of a trade-off. The putts that I normally make I haven’t made as many as I would have liked but I’ve made some long ones.”
Van Pelt, who also stroked his way to a 7-under 64 for sole third spot, said: “It was a solid day. I made one bogey but other than that I played good.
Malaysia’s Danny Chia raised local cheers with a solid 65 for tied 13th place, some seven shots back where he is the leading Asian alongside Thailand’s Chinnarat Phadungsil, who carded a 66.
“I had a better start compared to yesterday,” said Danny “I changed a bit of strategy on what I used off the tees and it worked out very well. My putting was quite solid as well.”
Turning to tomorrow he added: “Same things. Going to the range and doing what I’ve been doing in the last couple of weeks. I think that’s really working for me now.”
Malaysia’s other player in the field, Shaaban Hussin, shot a second 1-over 72 for a tie of 44th place.
He said: “After I birdied the first hole, I thought I would burn the course. But I lost my confidence with my bogey on the fourth hole.
“I duffed my chip and that was a huge mistake for me. I struggled after that. I was 2-over after the crossover and returned with 1-under on the back. I need to step up in my game.”
Shaaban added: “I hope to draw some confidence from Danny’s round. He is the best player in Malaysia. Hopefully I can play well like Danny tomorrow.”
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