Pieters last won in 2022 at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship – one of his six titles on the DP World Tour. This year he has recorded his two best finishes on LIV Golf, finishing joint fourth in both Korea and Virginia.
“Pretty similar to yesterday,” he said of his round. “Played really well. I made loads of 10- to 15-footers. Only difference is I missed a couple shorter ones. Overall, super happy, obviously. Yeah, just really looking forward to the weekend and I enjoy this golf course a lot.”
Pieters came into the week full of confidence after top-10 finishes in Hong Kong and Singapore on the Asian Tour and The International Series.
“I am just putting in the work,” Pieters said. “Swing feels good. Not too many swing thoughts to be honest. Short game has been good, and I practice a lot on my wedges in my simulator at home and that’s been paying off.”
The 32-year-old, who made seven birdies and two bogies in Round 2, has also changed his irons.
“My irons were kind of at the end of their lifetime and somehow I ended up with some Miura irons, and they’ve been working quite well,” Pieters said. “We’re not quite there yardage-wise, but you’ve got a lot of wedges this week so I haven’t hit a lot of long irons yet. But I really love the shape of them. The ball comes off really nicely. Yeah, I think they’ll be in the bag for next year.”
Zimbabwe’s Scott Vincent, the leader of The International Series, put himself in a strong position to finish the season in top spot by shooting his second 67 to sit six off the lead. Filipino Miguel Tabuena is also well placed following a 68 and is another shot back.
The top two on the Rankings will earn places on the LIV Golf League next year. Japan’s Yosuke Asaji is in second place in the rankings but fired a 72 to miss the cut, leaving the door open for Tabuena, who is in third place in the rankings.
(Photo courtesy of Asian Tour)
