JGTO Abroad: Hisatsune battles on at The American Express

Ryo Hisatsune carded a solid five-under-par 67 to give himself a fighting chance at The American Express as he sits just five shots off the pace at the halfway stage.

The 21-year-old Hisatsune, who's making his second start as a PGA Tour rookie, birdied three of his four opening holes from the 10th tee before picking up further shots on 16 and four at PGA West Nicklaus Tournament Course to compile a two-day aggregate of 12-under 132.

Hisatsune will be playing his third round at the PGA West's Stadium Course, the toughest of the three courses, on Saturday.

The 156-man field will compete over three golf courses - La Quinta Country Club, Nicklaus Tournament Course and Stadium Course, before the top-65 and ties make the cut for the final round, to be played at Stadium Course.

Taiga Semikawa looked well on his way to comfortably finishing in the top quarter of the leaderboard before disaster struck him on the penultimate hole, forcing him to settle for a 71.

The 23-year-old uncharacteristically conceded five shots on the par-three 17th, recording a quintuple bogey and dropping to a share of 100th place, finishing at five-under overall.

Semikawa probably didn't see the meltdown coming, especially after enjoying a run of six straight birdies from holes two to seven.

Semikawa needs to elevate his performance if he aims to secure his second consecutive cut, following his tied 30th finish at the Sony Open in Hawaii last week.

The current leader of The American Express is American Sam Burns, who fired a sublime 61, bringing his two-day tally to 17-under and placing him one shot ahead of countryman Michael Kim.

In Dubai, UAE, 2013 Panasonic Open champion Masahiro Kawamura bounced back superbly from his disastrous start at the Hero Dubai Desert Classic by posting a nine-under-par 63, soaring to a share of seventh position at six-under 138.

Despite this strong recovery, Kawamura still trails leader Cameron Young of the United States by six shots. Young fired a 64, placing him three shots clear of England's Andy Sullivan and Poland's Adrian Meronk.

Rikuya Hoshino agonisingly missed the cut by one shot, as his 71 proved insufficient to advance to the weekend, with the cut set at 144.

This conclusion marked the end of Hoshino's impressive start to the 2023-24 DP World Tour season, where he secured two consecutive runner-up finishes at the Fortinet Australian PGA Championship and ISPS Handa Australian Open.

Ends.