Pariya powers ahead at Panasonic Open

Pariya Junhasavasdikul of Thailand soared into the lead after the halfway stage of the Asia-Pacific Panasonic Open when he sank a clutch birdie putt on the last hole Friday.

The Thai, who started from the 10th tee, struggled to get his round going and needed a 15 footer birdie putt to send him to the top of the leaderboard at the Ibaraki Country Club. He posted a one-under-par 70 to hold a one-shot lead from overnight leader Shingo Katayama of Japan, who struggled to a 73 at the $1.48 million event.

Tetsuji Hiratsuka of Japan, who won the 2011 edition, battled to a 66 to share third position with Masahiro Kawamura. Rory Hie (69) of Indonesia was a further shot back alongside Young Han Song (69) of Korea, Yoshikazu Haku (66) of Japan and Brad Kennedy (66) of Australia.

Pariya, ranked 15th on the Order of Merit, bogeyed three and six to slip down the leaderboard but bounced back brilliantly after some coaxing from his caddy.

"I left three or four putts short in my round so on the last hole my caddy told me that I needed to hole the putt or he will throw me in the water. I thought I had left it short again but luckily it trickled into the hole," Pariya laughed.

The Thai admits that he did not play spectacular golf on an ideal scoring day but was delighted to stay on track for a third Asian Tour win.

"It was a bit of a struggling round. I couldn't get anything going. I didn't do anything spectacular but I birdied the last hole so all was forgiven. I'm still in the mix and in with a chance. I'm a bit disappointed but not as much because I'm still up there."

The halfway cut was set at three-over-par 145 with a total of 60 players making the weekend rounds.

Leaderboard:

135 - Pariya JUNHASAVASDIKUL (THA) 65-70.

136 - Shingo KATAYAMA (JPN) 63-73.

137 - Tetsuji HIRATSUKA (JPN) 71-66, Masahiro KAWAMURA (JPN) 69-68.

138 - SONG Young-han (KOR) 69-69, Yoshikazu HAKU (JPN) 72-66, Rory HIE (INA) 69-69, Brad KENNEDY (AUS) 72-66, PARK Sung-Joon (KOR) 71-67.

139 - LIU Yanwei (am, CHN) 72-67, Wade ORMSBY (AUS) 72-67, Kazuhiko HOSOKAWA (JPN) 71-68, Y.E. YANG (KOR) 71-68, Michio MATSUMURA (JPN) 70-69.

140 - Akio SADAKATA (JPN) 75-65, Kazuhiro YAMASHITA (JPN) 73-67, Sushi ISHIGAKI (JPN) 72-68.

141 - Yuki KONO (JPN) 76-65, Yoshinobu TSUKADA (JPN) 72-69, Masanori KOBAYASHI (JPN) 74-67, Gunn CHAROENKUL (THA) 72-69, KIM Sung-yoon (KOR) 70-71, S.K. HO (KOR) 71-70, Koumei ODA (JPN) 70-71.

142 - David OH (USA) 75-67, Tadahiro TAKAYAMA (JPN) 73-69, Taichi TESHIMA (JPN) 70-72, SIDDIKUR (BAN) 71-71, Chapchai NIRAT (THA) 73-69, Jazz JANEWATTANANOND (THA) 72-70, Tomohiro KONDO (JPN) 73-69, Katsumasa MIYAMOTO (JPN) 73-69.