Late charge sends Dan Erickson to the top at golf’s Porsche Singapore Classic

SINGAPORE - A late start at the Porsche Singapore Classic worked a treat for Dan Erickson on March 22, as the American golfer mounted a late charge in the second round to birdie the last hole and claim a one-shot lead ahead of his rivals.

Calm had returned to the Laguna National Golf Resort Club after torrential rain washed out the March 19 pro-am event and opening round a day later, and on the greens it was Erickson who was firing.

The 23-year-old from Atlanta rolled in nine birdies and dropped one at No. 7 to post a 64 for an 11-under 133, just one stroke ahead of a chasing pack of five others – Adrien Saddier (68), Matthew Jordan (69), Tom McKibbin (65), Richard Mansell (66) and Fabrizio Zanotti (65).

Spain’s Manual Elvira (69) and Englishmen Marcus Armitage (70) and Jordan Smith (69) were a further shot back at 135.

Erickson earned his 2025 DP World Tour card through Q-School last November, and has since only made the cut in one of his three starts this season.

But the world No. 1,370 rookie golfer, who leapfrogged McKibbin after the then-sole leader closed with a bogey, kept his cool to card the joint-lowest round of the day at Laguna.

He said: “It was a great round out there. It was a combination of everything, some good breaks, good shots and good putting all around.”

“The memory of calling my parents a few months ago after getting my score card (at Q-School) actually passed my mind on the course.

“You try not to think about it, but you just do and I was like, if you would have told me in October that I was going to be near the lead in the Porsche Singapore Classic and going to the last round, I would have thought you guys were on drugs or something.”

Jordan, who shared the first-round lead with Armitage on March 21, said: “Golf’s a fickle sport, you can shoot a good one, a bad one and shoot two good ones, you know, anything could happen in this game. Obviously, I was happy with the round, but just because I shot a good score yesterday doesn’t mean that I was going to do it today, you still have to work for it.

“It’s kind of a clean slate. Hopefully, the leaders don’t get too far away because I saw Tom (McKibbin) get one ahead of me. So, hopefully, it remains similar and then see what I can do tomorrow.”

Scotland’s Robert MacIntyre, the highest-ranked player in the 132-strong field at world No. 14, matched Erickson’s 64 to climb to 137, in a group of 10 tied for 15th.

With the US$2.5 million (S$3.3 million) tournament reduced to 54 holes due to the first-day cancellation, the hunt for the winner’s trophy will be fast and furious on March 23.

Erickson is hoping that the Laguna course, which “reminds me of the American-style courses which makes me feel right at home”, will work in his favour.

He said: “The bigger greens, slopey greens and the par-five holes are more reachable but it takes two good shots to get there so that definitely fits my game.

“I will go with the same game plan. I am sure there will be a lot of nerves but I will just try to soak it all in, try to learn a lot while playing and have a good experience while sticking to what I have been doing so far.”

Singapore’s only representative, amateur Brayden Lee, needed a birdie on the last hole on March 22 to reach the final round. But the 17-year-old Anglo-Chinese School (Independent) student had to settle for par and a 74, after posting four bogeys to two birdies to be joint-68th and missed the 142 cut.

Brayden, who fired a 69 and was tied-24th after the first round, said: “It was a struggle, to say the least. I wasn’t hitting it well, putts were not dropping. The wind really made the course slightly difficult today.

“This week, I can learn a lot from these guys and I have, now I just need to work on my game by myself before my next appearance.”

Porsche Singapore Classic

Day 3: StarHub Ch203, 10am