Ong trails Thai golfer by three

National golfer Marc Ong will have revenge on his mind after he fired a seven-under 65 to lie second at the halfway stage of the Putra Cup individual competition yesterday.

The 21-year-old fired eight birdies against a bogey at the Gading Raya Padang Golf and Club in Jakarta to lie three strokes behind Thailand's Kosuke Hamamoto, who shot a 64 and leads with 129.

Last month at the SEA Games, Ong had lost the individual gold medal to Thai-Japanese Hamamoto by one stroke at the The Mines Resort and Golf Club in Kuala Lumpur. Ong would redeem himself by leading Singapore to victory in the team event.

In the team event, Singapore are joint-first with a score of 398 alongside Thailand, while Indonesia are third on 418 in the seven-team competition, which combines the scores of the nation's top three players.

Thailand won the team event at the Tanah Merah Country Club last year, while Singapore finished second. 
- THE STRAITS TIMES