Gunn’s on fire, stays close to Kawamoto

Thailand's Gunn Charoenkul stays as the leading international member heading into the weekend at the Mynavi ABC Championship, just three strokes off the pace at the midway point.

The 30-year-old added a flawless three-under-par 69 to his opening 67 at the ABC Golf Club in Hyogo to leave him eight-under overall for the tournament and in a tie for fourth.

After reeling off seven straight pars, Gunn birdied the eighth, ninth and 12th over the next five-hole stretch before steadily parred the remaining ones.

Overnight leader Riki Kawamoto held on to the top spot at 11-under after posting a 68 courtesy of three birdies in his last four holes.

The 22-year-old Kawamoto, chasing his third victory of the season, leads by just one shot from Yuki Inamori  (65) while Shugo Imahira (69) is a further shot back at nine-under.

This sets up a thrilling weekend contest as both Inamori and Imahira are also two-time winners this year.

Kazuki Higa, the only player with three wins this season and currently leading JGTO Money Rankings, battled to a 70 to finish in a four-way tie for fourth alongside Gunn.

Australia's Brendan Jones also remained in the mix after getting to seven-under for the tournament with a solid 69. He finished joint-eighth and is just four shots adrift of the leader.

Having made his first cut in recent four outings, a buoyed Gunn is aiming to raise the bar higher but he doesn't want to get carried at the same time.

"It's very satisfying indeed. Honestly, I'm just so happy that I made the cut," said Gunn.

"Had a great time out there on the course. I managed to hit more fairways today, but my mid-to-short iron needs a bit of work.

"More importantly, I'm feeling very comfortable out there and playing with more confidence.

"My best finish of the season is tied-eighth (at Golf Partner Pro-Am Tournament) and the thought of bettering it is definitely in the book.

"But fun is the goal right now. That goal is second."

Among other internationals, Anthony Quayle of Australia shot 70 to tie for 15th with Sanghee Lee (71), while Hyunwoo Ryu (71) and Kyungtae Kim (71) of South Korea, Justin De Los Santos (68) and Juvic Pagunsan (71)  of the Philippines and Australia's Brad Kennedy (71) are all joint-19th at four-under.

Leading second-round scores:

(Japan unless stated)

133 - Riki Kawamoto 65-68;

134 - Yuki Inamori 69-65;

135 - Shugo Imahira 66-69;

136 - Hiroshi Iwata 69-67, Daijiro Izumida 67-69, Kazuki Higa 66-70, Gunn Charoenkul (Tha) 67-69;

137 - Tomoyo Ikemura 68-69, Brendan Jones (Aus) 68-69;

138 - Tomohiro Ishizaka 69-69, Shingo Katayama 70-68, Ryosuke Kinoshita 68-70, Kenshiro Ikegami 71-67, Tomoyasu Sugiyama 67-71.