Rookie Tom McKibbin maintained his strong position at the top of the Singapore Classic leaderboard with a second-round 69 to ensure a share the clubhouse lead before play was suspended due to rainfall.
The Holywood native set the pace with an opening round 64 at Laguna National Golf Resort Club, and while he didn't quite match that score, it was a composed round that sees the 20-year-old share the lead on 11-under par alongside Chinese teenage amateur Wenyei Ding, who had five holes to play before proceedings were brought to a halt for the day.
The second round will resume tomorrow at 8.15am local time (12.15am Irish time) before the start of the third round.
Elsewhere from an Irish perspective Gary Hurley looks set to miss the cut while John Murphy will play no further part this weekend.
World number 308 McKibbin would have been keen for a good start to back up yesterday's play, and a birdie at the third got the ball rolling, while the rookie was inches from an eagle at the par-four fifth.
"What a shot that is!"@tommckibbin8 is picking up where he left off yesterday 💪#SingaporeClassic pic.twitter.com/zhJhvRI7Zc
— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) February 10, 2023
A superb approach shot was almost judged to perfection, the impressive iron play from yesterday back to the fore as the ball rolled inches past the hole, McKibbin forced to settle for a birdie.
It started a run three birdies in four holes, as he made the turn at four-under par.
After lipping out with a lengthy birdie putt at the 10th, a first bogey of the tournament came at the next hole compounded by another at the 13th.
He recovered well at the next to pick up a shot and followed with three successive pars before a thunderstorm stopped play. When it resumed, he signed off with a par at the last for a three-under par round of 69 to maintain his push for a maiden DP World Tour win.
McKibbin, who finished in a tie for 36th last week at the Ras Al Khaimah Championship, began his professional campaign in impressive fashion with successive top-20s in the Jo’burg Open, the South African Open and the Alfred Dunhill Championship.
Gary Hurley - pictured above - who started on the back nine, dropped a couple of shots before a birdie at the first kick-started his round, with the West Waterford man straddling the cut mark on two-under par.
Another followed at the third, but a bogey and double bogey en route to a three-over 75 means he is unlikely to sneak inside the cut with a few players still on course.
John Murphy carded 75 to finish on five-over for the tournament. The Kinsale man began with an eventful back nine, successive birdies at 13 and 14 nestled in between double bogeys at 12 and 16.
The 18th hole again proved favourable – yesterday he managed an eagle – with a birdie, but on the front nine, two bogeys were balanced out by a pair of birdies before finishing with a double-bogey six at the ninth to finish five-over for the tournament.
