Johor Bahru, Malaysia—Juvic Pagunsan was 6-under for the tournament and 2-under for his round when organizers reduced the Iskandar Johor Open to a 54-hole affair on Saturday, in the process assuring the Filipino of keeping the Asian Tour Order of Merit lead.
Jose-Maria Zamora, the European Tour tournament director of the $2 million event co-sanctioned with the Asian Tour, said the Horizon Hills Golf and Country Club course was deemed unplayable which led to the suspension of play for the day.
“The course became unplayable after the heavy rainfall we received this afternoon, with standing water on a number of the fairways. With that in mind, we had no choice but to suspend play for the day and, due to the disruptions we have already suffered, we have also taken the decision to reduce the tournament to 54 holes,” he said.
No players have finished their round, meaning all 72 who made the halfway cut will return at 7.20 a.m. on Sunday to complete the third and final round.
Leader Daniel Chopra, a two-time PGA Tour winner, was 13-under after playing the first hole before play was suspended at 3 p.m. local time due to heavy downpour.
Pagunsan, who easily made the 36-hole cut with rounds of 71-68 like rookie compatriot Miguel Tabuena, birdied the third and fourth holes to go 2-under. He was on No. 6 when play was stopped.
Tabuena was 5 under for the tournament after eight holes. Like Pagunsan, he also birdied the third and fourth holes but bogeyed No. 7.
S.S.P. Chowrasia of India, the No. 2 player in the Asian OOM, didn’t return for the second round after scoring an 80 in his first 18 holes.
Mars Pucay and Elmer Salvador survived the second round cut at 2-under with respective rounds of 70-70 and 72-68, but Artemio Murakami (76-70) and Antonio Lascuña (73-70) failed to advance.
Title holder Padraig Harrington of Ireland, James Morrison of England and Frenchman Gregory Bourdy were both at 11-under also after completing one hole in the third round.
Chopra, who won his first professional title at the 1993 Johor Open, predicts an exciting finale to the Iskandar Johor Open with a strong cast of players including three-time Major champion Harrington still in with a chance of winning.
“It will make it more exciting. It is going to be a bit more like a shootout because there are a number of people still in it with a chance to have a good round. It will be fun,” said Chopra, who grew up in India.
“Obviously, I would have loved to play. I did some work early in the morning and I felt good. I hit a couple of good shots starting of the round and then the rain came. It kills a bit of momentum but we can’t control the weather. I was mentally prepared for the weather delays,” the Swede added.
The $6 million Barclays Singapore Open was also reduced to three rounds due to weather disturbance last week where Pagunsan finished second to grab the OOM lead.