Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, March 22: Indonesia’s Danny Masrin remained unfazed by the prospect of going up against his more illustrious rivals as he charged up the leaderboard to trail Belgium’s Thomas Pieters by one shot in tied-second place at the Maybank Championship on Friday.

Masrin, who is playing under the ASEAN invite category this week, did not display any signs of nerve as he continued to put himself in contention at the US$3 million event with his two-day total of seven-under-par 137.

After opening with a three-under-par 69 at the Saujana Golf and Country Club, the Indonesian went one better as he traded seven birdies and a three bogeys to sign for a 68 and a share of second place with Spain’s Nacho Elvira.

Pieters, who is one half of the Belgium’s World Cup of Golf winning duo in Melbourne last November, started the day two shots off the lead in sixth place.

He suffered an early setback with a bogey on two but responded well with four birdies on holes four, 10, 13 and 16 to take his place atop the leaderboard.

American Paul Peterson made light work of the sweltering heat in Malaysia by signing for a 68 to make his move up the leaderboard and take a share of fourth place that also included Major winner Ernie Els of South Africa, Thailand’s Jazz Janaewattananond and 2014 Asian Tour Order of Merit champion David Lipsky of the United States.

Starting the day five shots off the lead, Peterson was among the early morning starters and he went off quickly by firing birdies on 11 and 18 to quickly close the gap in his opening back-nine 10.

The American, who won his only Asian Tour title in Myanmar in 2018, continued to sink even more birdies on holes one, three and five to put himself into a commanding position for the weekend rounds.

Thailand’s Prom Meesawat was also in the heat of the battle but he returned unscathed after firing a 71 to stay close to the leaders in a share of 11th place.

The weekend cut was set at even-par with 74 players making the cut.

Did you know?

• Danny Masrin is one of the five ASEAN Invites teeing up at this week’s Maybank Championship.
• The ASEAN invite is part of Maybank’s commitment and efforts to bolster regional talent and provide a platform for players to take their game further.
• The other players in ASEAN invite category include Singapore’s Johnson Poh and Jesse Yap, Myanmar’s Ye Thet Aung and Philippines’ Angelo Que,
• Masrin’s best result on the Asian Tour was a tied-12 result at the Singapore Open in 2018. He has three top 10s on the Asian Development Tour including two in 2018 (Richard Mille Brunei Championships & Ciputra Golfpreneur Tournament presented by Panasonic) and one in 2016 (PGM Northport Glenmarie Championship)
• Paul Peterson made his breakthrough on the Asian Tour when he won the Leopalace21 Myanmar Open in 2018.
• Prior to that win in Myanmar, Peterson also won the D+D REAL Czech Masters on the European Tour in 2016.
• Prom Meesawat’s last victory on the Asian Tour came at the Yeangder Tournament Players Championship in 2014.
• The Thai won the 20th Singha Thailand Masters on home soil earlier this month.
• His best result at a co-sanctioned event with the European Tour was a tied-third finish in Hong Kong in 2013.
• Prom also won the Junior World Golf Championships twice in 1997 (boys 11-12) and 2002 (boys 15-17). He also won Thailand Open Amateur Championship on three occasions in 2001, 2002 and 2003.

Ends.