Bangkok, Thailand, November 30: American Johannes Veerman took advantage of his brilliant form to sign for a five-under-par 65 and continued to hold his lead at the halfway stage of the Queen’s Cup hosted by Jaidee Foundation.

The 26-year-old Veerman leads by one shot on a 13-under-par 127 total over defending champion Jazz Janewattananond of Thailand and Miguel Tabuena of Philippines, who carded matching 63s to share second place at the US$500,000 event staged at Legacy Golf Club.

Veerman, chasing a breakthrough victory on the Asian Tour since coming through Qualifying School in 2016, set the tone early in the round when he drilled in a 30-footer for birdie on the first hole.

The 2016 Asian Development Tour (ADT) Order of Merit winner returned with a bogey-free round highlighted by five birdies to stay atop the leaderboard at the event hosted by Thai veteran Thongchai Jaidee.

One-time Asian Tour winner Tabuena, who is on a mission to end a three-year title drought on the region’s premier Tour, stayed bogey-free through 36 holes to trail by one shot with Jazz on 128.

The Thai, who is looking to become the first player in the tournament history to successfully defend the Queen’s Cup title, traded nine birdies against two bogeys to put himself in prime position for a weekend charge.

India’s Amardip Malik was thrilled to sign for a 65, which marked his career-best score outside the country, to take fourth place on his own at the 11th edition of the Queen’s Cup.

Thai legend Thaworn Wiratchant posted a 67 to lurk five shots off the pace in tied-fifth with countrymen Natipong Srithong (66), Atiruj Winaicharoenchai (62) and Peradol Panyathanasedh (65).

A total of 75 players made the halfway cut set at one-under-par 139.

Did you know?

·       Johannes Veerman is currently ranked 40th on the Habitat for Humanity Standings.

·       The American tied the knot earlier in this year in Switzerland, which is also where his wife Angela is based to play professional volleyball.

·       Veerman enjoyed a dream rookie season in 2016 when he secured his breakthrough victory on the Asian Development Tour (ADT) which led him to lift the ADT Order of Merit crown.

·       Miguel Tabuena needed only 25 putts in his second consecutive bogey-free round which was seven putts better than his opening round.

·       Tabuena will be eyeing his second Asian Tour victory this week since claiming his maiden victory at his National Open in 2015. He secured his second Philippine Open title on his local circuit in March this year.

·       Tabuena’s best finish in his past six Queen’s Cup appearances was a fifth-place result in July this year.

·       Jazz Janewattananond is aiming to become the first player in the history of the event to successfully defend the title.

·       Jazz missed only three fairways and found 15 greens-in-regulation in his solid second round of 63.

·       Amardip Malik, who is playing under a country exemption, is playing in his first start outside the country this week.

·       Malik has one win on his local circuit in 2017 which came two years after he was diagnosed with a bone defect and was forced to take a seven-month layoff from golf.

·       The Indian only needed 24 putts in his round of 65, which marks his personal best score outside of India.

·       At 52 years young, Thaworn Wiratchant is the oldest player placed in the top-five while Atiruj Winaicharoenchai, 18-years-old, is the youngest player.

·       Thaworn has won once on the Japan Senior Tour and once on the Staysure Tour this season..

Players’ Quotes:

Johannes Veerman (Usa) – Second Round 65 (-5), Total 127 (-13)

Sometimes you can come off a good round and wonder if it’s still there today. I saw those guys from the morning session on top and it just gave me something to shoot for. My aim coming into today was to shoot around five or six under so I did achieve that.

I started the round with a great birdie on the first after sinking a 30-footer and that got the ball rolling. I had a lot of confidence coming from that and lasted throughout the round. I’m really happy with how I did today and excited for tomorrow.

I’m playing it pretty safe for the most part on this course. You can make a lot of silly mistakes on this course. Tee to green I will just have to keep my ball in play all weekend.

There is a lot of golf left to play and I am halfway through. I know jazz and Miguel are quality players, so I expect them to play well and put up a good fight, but I expect myself to perform well too.

Jazz Janewattananond (Tha) – Second Round 63 (-7), Total 128 (-12)

I started off good like yesterday’s round with a birdie. Got off to a good start and then had some stupid mistakes along the way. On hole 14 I just got it on the wrong side of the green and three-putted. But the good thing was I managed to get it out of my mind and move on pretty quick and recovered with a birdie right after.

My game is pretty much the same as yesterday, nothing really stood out and I think I could’ve done way better if not for some shots I left out there.

I had one good putt today on hole eight, before I three-putted the last. Pretty frustrated with how I ended the round. It was easy putts like that, that I was giving away all day.

Don’t get my wrong today was still a good round, but I could have gone so much lower if I eliminate some of these mistakes.

Miguel Tabuena (Phi) – Second Round 63 (-7), Total 128 (-12)

I took advantage of the calm conditions this morning and I am pretty happy with my round. All my birdies were inside six feet because I am striking the ball well but there is a lot of golf left to play so I am not going to get ahead of myself.

I am hitting the ball really well. If I continue to hit it like that the next two rounds and maybe drop a few more putts I know it will be a good week for me.

My father surprised me by flying out to see me this weekend. I’m happy that he is going to see me because I always like when my parents come and watch me play.

It’s tough if you don’t hit the fairways here. Just keeping it on the fairways and going for the pins is my plan this week.

Amardip Malik (Ind) – Second Round 65 (-5), Total 131 (-9)

I have been playing well for a bit now. This is my first start outside the country. I hit it well all day so my game is feeling good.

I kept it together all day. The highlight of my round would have to be on the last hole when I made a 35-footer for birdie. I wasn’t expecting it, and just wanted to make a two-putt for par. But it came out of nowhere and it was a nice end to a good round.

I made a lot of good up and downs to save par today. I am very excited because this is my best score ever outside of the country and I just feel really good going into the weekend.

Thaworn Wiratchant (Tha) – Second Round 67 (-3), Total 132 (-8)

I played better than yesterday and my putting helped me a lot. I think my approach shots could have been better, the fairways are wide but it is important to place your ball on the right side of the green to shoot low here.

There were a couple of tricky in positions today and I was not on the right side of the green on a lot of holes. But no complaints because I think I still did better and I am happy with my round.

Scores after round 2 of the Queen’s Cup hosted by Jaidee Foundation being played at the par 70, 6939 Yards Legacy GC course (am – denotes amateur):

127 – Johannes Veerman (USA) 62-65.

128 – Miguel Tabuena (PHI) 65-63, Jazz Janewattananond (THA) 65-63.

131 – Amardip Malik (IND) 66-65.

132 – Thaworn Wiratchant (THA) 65-67, Natipong Srithong (THA) 66-66, Atiruj Winaicharoenchai (THA) 70-62, Peradol Panyathanasedh (THA) 67-65.

133 – Pelle Edberg (SWE) 67-66, Lu Wei-chih (TPE) 67-66, Kosuke Hamamoto (THA) 65-68.