Panasonic OPEN Golf Championship Rd 2: What They Said

Kobe, Japan, September 27: Read what players have to say following the second round of the Panasonic OPEN Golf Championship on Friday.

Rahil Gangjee (Ind) – Second round 63 (-8), Total (-9)

It wasn’t an easy day yesterday. It was very trying on my patience. The whole of yesterday I just didn’t make any putts but I fought really hard. I wanted to finish under-par and dreams came true on the last hole ninth where I made an eagle to finish one-under par.

It was a good feeling coming back today. I know the birdies are out there, it’s just that I haven’t holed anything. When I did that today, it just kept coming. It was good. Putting was the main difference but I hit it pretty good too. I did make a lot of putts, anything from between 10 to 20 footers. It was a good putting day.

Everything was just mundane today. Hit the fairways, greens and then make putts. I actually left like four putts out there. It could have been a lot more under-par. But I’m not complaining. The greens are playing better in the morning too.

No thoughts right now. I just want to go out there and control the golf ball. I have been trying to do that for the last couple of years. It’s settling in now so that is what I will do for the next two rounds.

It’s always difficult to defend because everyone is looking at you. I need to stay away from that. I try to stay away from that and don’t think about it. I just want to go and play golf. The whole of last year has been a big learning curve for me in Japan because all the courses I played were new to me.

It’s also a different mindset because I am just trying to know about the courses and remembering the shots I hit out there. It has got nothing to do with score. Even though I don’t know the golf course well this week, that same mindset comes in and that matters to scoring and going deep.

When you don’t think about scores, just hit the ball, find it and hit again, I think the score takes care of itself.

Lu Wei-chih (Tpe) – Second round 69 (-2), Total 134 (-8)

I missed a few fairways today. I couldn’t really attack the pins as well. But I just try to get it on the green and give myself opportunities to make birdies. Nothing really stood out today. It was a pretty steady round for us.

Still in a good position but there are a lot more golf to play. We will see what happens. Nothing changes for the weekend. I just want to stay focused, stick to my game plan and play it shot by shot. If I can do that, I believe the score will take care of itself.

Ryo Ishikawa (Jpn) – Second round 62 (-9), Total 134 (-8)

I hit some solid iron shots today and made some long putts. I been trying to improve my iron shots before coming here, I’m glad it’s paying off. It was nice to finish with an eagle on 18. I was trying to avoid the water, hit a solid four-iron to four feet there and made that putt.

I played with Sergio Garcia and Jazz (Janewattananond) earlier in the year in Singapore and I learned that their iron-shot accuracy is almost twice better than me. This means they were able to hit it close to the pins, so to reduce the distance of the putts I have on the greens, I have to work on my iron-play.

I have been working on that all year and I’m glad the results are showing. I couldn’t control the ball well yesterday. But I did it better today. That made a lot of difference as I was able to attack from the fairways.

I am glad that I made it to the weekend here at Higashi Hirono Golf Club (laughs). After finishing one-over yesterday, I told myself I have to play my own game. I have to play without any distractions and just concentrate on golf.

Whenever I make mistakes, I will keep thinking about it after the round and adjust it on the practice range. I will put down a list of mistakes I made too. I will think about it even during interviews or in the car going back to hotel and then write them down when I am alone in my room.

Shugo Imahira (Jpn) – Second round 69 (-2), Total 134 (-8)

I had a hard time playing the front nine but I stayed very patient out there. I am glad I recovered on the back nine. I couldn’t control the ball like I did yesterday, but glad that I finished on eight-under.

I was watching Ryo Ishikawa today and felt that if he starts well, he will shoot a low score. He hit some really solid shots today.

With the way I played today, I am still tied with Ishikawa. That’s not too bad. I will try to put up a good score tomorrow and give myself a chance to contend for the title on Sunday.

Jazz Janewattananond (Tha) – Second round 69 (-2), Total 135 (-6)

I just started off really shaky. I missed a lot of putts so it was good to get it back. Made some stupid mistakes at the start and then had some unlucky breaks on a couple of holes. It’s good to see that I can come back from that. Hopefully the next two rounds will be a bit smoother.

I’m just trying to figure out which putting technique works for me, and to be honest, I didn’t putt that great today. I had two three putts on the card, so that’s not a good look. But I’ll keep it in play for the last two days.

I misread the eagle putt on the last but it’s still a good birdie. Ryo (Ishikawa) made an eagle there. It’s good to see him play really well today.