Surratt near lead entering weekend at Singapore Open

SINGAPORE - LIV Golf star Caleb Surratt of Legion XIII shot a 2-under 69 on Friday at the Singapore Open presented by The Business Times and stands T6, five shots behind leader Jeongwoo Ham of Korea. 

Other LIV Golf players under par entering the weekend are Fireballs GC's Luis Masaveu (T10, 4 under overall), RangeGoats GC's Peter Uihlein (T19, 3 under overall) and Fireballs GC's Josele Ballester (T28, 2 under overall). LIV Golf Wild Card player Bjorn Hellgren is T10. 

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Ham carded a 3-under 68 on the formidable Serapong Course to move to 10 under for a 2-shot lead over Thailand’s Jazz Janewattananond. 

Jazz, the champion here on this course in 2019, returned a 66, while Gaganjeet Bhullar from India and Japan’s Tomohiro Ishizaka share third place, another stroke behind. 

Bhullar and Ishizaka both shot 68s – in the fourth event of the season on the Asian Tour, which is also part of The International Series. 

Ham started the day in a share of the lead with Thailand’s Ekpharit Wu and maintained yesterday’s momentum while Wu fell away, carding a 75. 

The Korean has only ever played in seven Asian Tour events outside of Korea, with a best finish of joint 29th in the International Series Japan two weeks ago. 

The 31-year-old is on course to drastically improve upon that this week. 

“It wasn’t like yesterday, today I didn’t make many mistakes,” said Ham, who has been a professional since 2018.

“Compared to yesterday a lot of the putts didn’t go in, but I played patiently. Feeling very satisfied now.” 

He made four birdies today, including on the par-5 18th, and dropped one shot, on 15. 

He said: “At critical moments I made the putts and made use of the chances. My irons weren’t as good, my accuracy not great but I think I made putts at critical moments.” 

Despite not having tasted victory on the Asian Tour he is a proven winner on the Korean PGA Tour, where he has won four times. The most recent of those came in the Golfzon-Toray Open in 2024. 

Jazz once again showed he is back to his best and playing the kind of golf that won him this title seven years ago enroute to securing the Asian Tour Order of Merit title. 

“It's great coming back here,” said the seven-time winner on the Asian Tour. 

“I've been wishing and waiting for the Singapore Open to come back here. The last time I was back here was the 2020 edition. I didn't come here for the 2022 edition. But just been missing this place a lot, the golf course is always in great shape. I mean, it's one of the best golf courses in Asia, and it suits my eyes, so I can't really complain.” 

When he won here he finished with a winning total of 18-under helped by a pair of 65s at the weekend. 

He’ll need something similar to claim the title for a second time but is in confident spirits. 

“Still not in the autopilot mode, but the tee shots kind of fit my eye here even if it's a little different off the tee or little different wind. When I'm standing on the tee, it still looks quite nice to me. There are some courses which just do not suit me at all, but this golf course does, and I like the shape of it,” he said. 

Bhullar, a 11-time champion on the Asian Tour, menacingly moved into contention, making two birdies in the last three. 

“I've not been playing so many events. But I mean, it feels good to be on the first page of the leaderboard, definitely feels good,” he said. 

“I thought I played really well last year, but the scores were not coming at the right time. So probably this week, I'll try to do my routine and process and try and give my 100%.” 

Australian Jack Thompson fired his second 68 and is in outright fifth, four behind the leader. 

Amateur star Brayden Lee and his compatriot Ryan Ang are the leading Singaporeans, in a tie for 19th on three under. 

Lee, who finished as the leading local player last year, came in with a 68 and Ang a 69. 

Said Lee: “I'm lucky to be an adopted member here, a sponsored player, so I do spend most of my time around here. It's a really tough course, because it's very demanding off the tee and the greens are huge and undulating. So, you know, you never know what you get.” 

His team-mate in the Singapore amateur team Troy Storm also survived the cut, which was one over. Storm carded a 71 to finish on the cut line. 

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