September 26: Christopher Hickman, an Asian Tour rookie, made a determined move up the leaderboard with a four-under-par 68 round – the best score in Friday’s morning session – as windy conditions at Taiwan Golf & Country Club continued to torment players in the US$1million Mercuries Taiwan Masters.

The southpaw American, who turned 32 earlier this month (September 10), has played in development tour all over the world, but showed he is ready for the big time with a round that included five birdies and a solitary bogey. It helped him jump to tied eighth place after the morning group of players finished, up 58 places from Thursday’s tied 66th after a four-over 76.

The next best score of the morning was by Australia’s Ryan Peake (69), winner earlier this year at the 104th New Zealand Open presented by Sky Sport.

However, with Thailand’s Jazz Janewattanond slipping with a second-round 75, overnight leader Atiruj Winaicharoenchai increased his lead at the top to three without playing any shots. Atiruj, who shot a 67 in Thursday’s opening round, is scheduled to tee off in the afternoon session.

Ryan Peake of Australia. Picture by Graham Uden/Asian Tour.

At one-under total, Jazz was joined by compatriot Nitithorn Thippong (70), Italian Gabriele De Barba (71) and Chinese-Taipei’s Chen Yi-tong (71), the best-placed player among the local hopefuls.

Hickman, who turned professional in 2018, said he learned a lot from his opening round on Thursday. The highlight of his second round was a birdie on the 16th hole, where his drove under a tree, but punched out to 20 feet and made the putt.

“It felt pretty good. I kept the ball in front of me mostly and to make just one bogey on this golf course is good. I putted well and thought I scrambled well. Learned a lot from my mistakes in the first round,” said Hickman, who birdied three of the four par-fives on the golf course.

“It wasn’t as windy as yesterday, but on this course, if you get out of play, you need to be defensive and I did a good job of it whenever I was in the rough.”

Gabriele de Barba of Italy. Picture by Graham Uden/Asian Tour.

De Barba’s round included a double bogey and two bogeys, but he also made five birdies. The Taiwan PGA Tour player, a winner earlier this year in an Asian Development Tour event in the country, was relishing the opportunity he now has in an Asian Tour event over the weekend.

The 29-year-old scored his first professional win following a dramatic four-hole play-off with local star Chan Shih-chang in Ambassador ADT in May.

“I made one big mistake on the 14th hole and ended up making a double there. Apart from that, I thought my tee shots were good and putting was decent,” said the Japan-based player.

“I don’t like this golf course that much because I missed cuts in two previous events on the Taiwan PGA here. But I have learned a lot from playing in TPGA and the ADT, so hopefully, I can keep going.”

This is the 39th edition of the tournament, which has been a part of the Asian Tour schedule since 2000.