Chalitha Pushpika storms into third round

Chalitha Pushpika

Sri Lanka’s Chalitha Pushpika delivered a stellar performance, securing a spot in the third round of the ongoing 119th Malaysian Amateur Open Golf Championship at the Tiara Melaka Golf and Country Club yesterday.

The 28-year-old golfer impressively qualified for the cut-off mark, finishing the second round in the 28th position in the 72-par event, where the cut-off mark was 40th. Pushpika posted scores of over par 79 in round one and over par 77 in round two, sealing his spot with a total of 156.

Notably, four players, including Pushpika, scored 156, alongside Korean player Kim Hyeong, Philippines’ Josef Bucay, and Vietnam’s Tuan Anh.

Pushpika expressed some dissatisfaction, stating, “I am not satisfied with these scores because I had to do better. I did better only in the last few holes. I would have easily played for 71, 72. I took 77 today,” sharing his thoughts from Malaysia.

Pushpika highlighted the challenging course conditions, citing strong winds and subpar fairways compared to other courses. He emphasized the lack of caddy support, stating, “No support from caddies. Only ourselves did everything.”

Chalitha’s achievement is noteworthy in a tournament where 71 players competed. Due to three players narrowly missing the cut-off at 160 scores, only 40 players were selected for the third round out of the 41 initially intended. Malaysia’s Hariz Hezri leads the leaderboard with impressive scores of 142 (73 and 69), followed by two Korean players, Hyun Pi and Hee Choi, in second and third place, respectively.

The post Chalitha Pushpika storms into third round appeared first on DailyNews.