Malaysia’s Khavish Varadan and England’s Angus Flanagan will head into the final 36 holes of the US$250,000 Aramco Invitational Tournament tied for the lead on 12-under-par.
On a day of significant leaderboard movement at the Asian Development Tour (ADT) season-ender in Saudi Arabia, Khavish added a solid 67 to his opening 65, while Flanagan fired a second successive 66 at Rolling Hills Golf Club. They top the standings by one shot from first round co-leader Carl Jano Corpus of the Philippines (63, 70) and another Englishman, Finlay Mason (64, 69).
With its sizeable prize fund, the Aramco Invitational will have a huge say in determining the final ADT Order of Merit and the top 10 players who will earn promotions to the Asian Tour next season. The top-five players on the final ADT Order of Merit will also be given starts at the US$1 million Saudi Open presented by PIF, an Asian Tour event that takes place this December 10-13 at Dirab Golf & Country Club.
Khavish, 25, noted that his game has been trending upwards since a mid-season reset. He chalked up seven birdies against two bogeys in a show of solid ball-striking.
“My golf game has been really solid after the changes my coach and I made, and it’s nice to see I’m trending in the right direction. I just trusted my ball striking, gave myself as many birdie looks as I could, and hoped that some putts might fall. That’s what I did yesterday and today,” said Khavish.
Kavish is currently in 36th place on the ADT Order of Merit, having missed the last few events on the region’s leading developmental circuit. “I was in the U.S. playing Q-School first stage, and I did Europe as well,” he explained.
“I think I’m just very focused on my game and on pleasing myself – and I’m a very hard person to please when it comes to golf! So, I’m just going to do what I did the first two days, hopefully even better,” noted the towering golfer, who played on the U.S. collegiate circuit for the University of Alabama at Birmingham before turning professional in late 2023.
Playing as a tournament invite, Flanagan had two eagles, three birdies and one bogey in a colourful round.
Thailand’s Amarin Kraivixien, one of three first round co-leaders who shot opening 63s, fell back into tied fifth place on 10-under-par following a second round 71. He is aiming to become the fourth consecutive Thai winner of the tournament, joining Itthipat Buranatanyarat (2024), Denwit Booribonsub (2023) and Varanyu Rattanaphiboonkij (2022).
Hong Kong, China’s Hoho Yue, who was also in top spot on day one, scrambled his way to a second round 74 to tumble down the leaderboard into tied 20th spot on seven-under-par.
Among the players who made the halfway cut to stay in the hunt for the 10 Asian Tour cards was Filipino talent Aidric Chan. Starting on the 10th hole, the 24-year-old saved his best for last by holing his second shot on his final hole, the par-four 9th, for an eagle two. Having opened with a 75, Chan’s second round 67 gave him a 36-hole total of two-under-par 142, making the cut by two shots.
Currently in fifth place on the ADT Order of merit, Chan will still need a solid finish here to book his place among the top-10 on the final ADT Order of Merit and gain his Asian Tour card for 2026.
“A lot has been going through my mind, especially after shooting 75 yesterday. The points in this last event are basically double the other events, and anyone who finishes top five could potentially get past me. I’m definitely going to try to be a little bit more aggressive in the next two rounds. It would mean a lot to me to get an Asian Tour card,” said Chan, who won the ADT’s Morocco Rising Stars Marrakech – Samanah Golf Club In June year, but has been in patchy form over the last few events.
Othman Almulla with his Saudi golfing family Faisal Salhab, left, and Saud Al Sharif. Neville Hopwood
Four Saudi golfers – Faisal Salhab (71, 71), Saud Al Sharif (74, 70), Aramco touring professional Othman Almulla (70, 74) and Khalid Attieh (74 , 70) – made the halfway cut which came at even-par.
Joining the four Saudi players in the final 36 holes are Moroccan number one Ayoub Lguirati, who shot a superb second round 64 following an opening 70 to stay well in the hunt, his compatriot El Mehdi Fakori (72, 72), and two impressive amateurs from Qatar, 14-year-old Daniil Sokolov (69, 69) who made his first cut in a professional event and Saleh Alkaabi (67, 72).
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