Strong birdie finish propels Pereira to halfway lead in Oman

Chilean star Mito Pereira birdied his final four holes to charge into the halfway lead at the $2 million International Series - Oman at the beautiful Al Mouj Golf.

The 28 year-old shot a bogey-free six-under-par 66 to lead on 11 under by one from Matt Wolff from the United States, who overpowered the course with his renowned big-hitting game from the tee to equal the course record with a stunning nine-under round of 63 – the best score of the week so far by two shots.

American Peter Uihlein shot a 66 to finish the day tied third with Australian Kevin Yuan, who carded a 68. They are both on nine under, in the first event of the year on The International Series and the second stop of the season on the Asian Tour.

Overnight leader David Puig from Spain, last week’s winner of Malaysia’s National Open – the Asian Tour’s season opener – surprisingly shot a 75 to slide back to four-under.

“It was really nice. I played solid the whole day. Had a slow start, then at the end, I made four birdies in a row,” said Pereira, who is attempting to win for the first time since the BMW Charity Pro-Am in 2021 on the Korn Ferry, although he was victorious four times last year on the LIV Golf League with Team Torque GC.

“I will approach the weekend the same, it’s been working the past two days so I will just keep trying to do that. Why change it,” he added. (Will) try to hit every fairway and make some putts.”

Wolff, who is on LIV Golf’s RangeGoats GC team, has been working hard to get his game back on track after a subdued few seasons. However, he finished fourth individually recently in LIV Golf Las Vegas and after today’s performance, he looks like being one of the favourites this weekend.

“I am working on my mental side, how to behave on the golf course, focus shot by shot, focus on what I have to do, not the result or the outcome,” he said. “I think it is working pretty well.”

Defending champion Takumi Kanaya from Japan added a 69 to his opening 70 and is well placed heading into the weekend on five under in a tie with a strong group that includes Zimbabwe’s Kieran Vincent (69) Lucas Herbert (69) from Australia, Chilean Joaquin Niemann (73), Korea’s Bio Kim (70) and Ervin Chang (71) from Malaysia.

Dubai-based 52-year-old Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind) shot an impressive second-round 68 to be one under par for 36 holes and in tied for 53rd place. The cut fell at level par with Dubai Golden Visa Awardee Gaganjeet Bhullar (Ind) making it on the mark.

Jeev had two nines of 34 and hit 13 of 18 greens in regulation – but the highlight was his 26 putts on the challenging greens.

Jeev told Khaleej Times after his round: “‘I played well today. The wind picked up this afternoon and with my late tee time, I was pleased with my performance.

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“The greens are firming up and a lot of distance control is required to make a score. Everyone is very impressed with the spectacular condition of the Al Mouj course – well done to all involved. I am looking forward to playing on the weekend.”

Saturday’s third round sees the leaders out at 10.51 am from the first tee - featuring Yuan, Wolff and Pereira.

Leading Second Round Scores

(7,413 Yards, Par 72).

Pereira (Chi) 67. 66. 133.

Wolff (USA) 71. 63. 134.

Yuan (Aus) 67. 68. 135.

Uihlein (US) 69. 66. 135.

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