Ding, Lin share lead at Asia-Pacific Am at Royal Melbourne

MELBOURNE, Australia — Chuan-tai Lin of Taiwan and Wenyi Ding of China moved into a share of the second-round lead on Friday at the Asia-Pacific Amateur at Royal Melbourne.

Lin shot a 5-under 67 and Ding 70 for two-round totals of 139. There was a four-way tie for third, including first-round leader Kazmua Kobori of New Zealand, who shot 75 Friday.

Lin, who played in the Junior Presidents Cup at Royal Melbourne in 2019, had six birdies and just two dropped shots to move up the leaderboard.

“It was definitely a good day of business,” said Lin, who goes by C.T. “Today I started by just hitting a lot of good shots, and sometimes putts drop, sometimes they don’t. But just try to hang in there; it’s definitely more score-able in the morning compared to the wind yesterday.”

Ding made a fast start with two birdies in his opening four holes but slipped back with bogey fives at the fifth and seventh holes. The freshman at Arizona State recovered with birdies at the 10th and 13th but dropped a shot at the last.

After tough conditions at Royal Melbourne over the first two rounds, the cut for the top 60 and ties was made at 12-over 154.

The tournament winner receives an invitation to the 2024 Masters and a spot in next year’s Open at Royal Troon, along with being exempt from qualifying for The Amateur.

This is the second time the Asia-Pacific Amateur has been held at Royal Melbourne, which recently hosted the Presidents Cup in 2019.