Past champion Jin tied for Asia-Pacific Amateur lead

Published Oct. 5, 2018 8:09 a.m. ET

SINGAPORE (AP) — Jin Cheng and Lloyd Jefferson Go each shot a 3-under 67 on Friday and shared the lead going into the weekend at the Asia-Pacific Amateur.

Jin and Go were at 8-under 132 at Sentosa Golf Club, one shot ahead of Ha Jin-Bo and Bai Zheng Kai, who also had 67s.

Another shot back was Sadom Kaewkanjana, who at No. 10 is the highest-ranked Asian in the World Amateur Golf Ranking. Sadom had a 66 to get within two shots.

Jin won the Asia-Pacific Amateur in 2015 and knows what's at stake. The winner is invited to play in the Masters at Augusta National in April, and now gets into the British Open.

"The chance to get back to the Masters motivates me to play better," Jin said. "But I am trying not to think of that in between the shots. I don't want to do anything fancy over the next two days and just try and stick to my process."

Jin won a team silver and an individual bronze in the recently completed Asian Games.

Go made five birdies to overcome his bogeys on the eighth and 13th holes. No Filipino has ever finished among the top 5 in the 10 years of the Asia-Pacific Amateur.