Chang Hwa, Chinese Taipei, October 17 - Local hope Lin Chien-bing surged to the top of the leaderboard after signing for a bogey-free five-under-par 66 at the halfway stage of the 15th ADT Chang Hwa Open on Friday.
Lin, who opened with a 70, reeled in nine straight pars before closing with five consecutive birdies to lead by one shot on six-under-par 136 total at the US$100,000 Asian Development Tour (ADT) event.
Thailand’s Pavit Tangkamolprasert, a three-time ADT winner, moved into second place following a 67 while Niall Turner of Ireland (66), Indonesia’s Rory Hie (66), Chinese Taipei duo Hsu Hao-sheng (67) and Lien Chi-wei (67) shared third place on 138 at the Chang Hwa Golf Club.
Defending champion Hung Chien-yao stayed eight shots off the pace after signing for a 71 to take a share of 30th place at the Chang Hwa Open, which is returning onto the ADT schedule for the second straight year this season.
It has been a steady outing for Lin, who credited his course knowledge and strong mental game for a remarkable round today.
“I had a few birdie chances on my front nine but I didn’t manage to take advantage of it. I just tried to play my own game out there and it’s thrilling to finish the round with five straight birdies! I sank a four-footer for birdie on the 14th hole and that kind of got my game going,” said an excited Lin.
“Overall, I guess everything worked out well for me today. I am familiar with this course so I guess that is an advantage for me. I have been playing one shot by one shot for the past two rounds and it has been really smooth for me so far. I only made one bogey on the ninth hole yesterday,” added the 41-year-old.
Pavit, placed second on the merit rankings, is delighted to put himself in a good position to chase for his fourth title on the ADT, which was inaugurated in 2010 as a gateway to the premier Asian Tour.
“I hit very good tee shots and I putted much better today. It’s not easy to putt well on the kind of grasses out here so I am happy with how I played. It was less windy this morning so it was slightly easier too. I will have to keep the ball in play and focus on the tee shots in the next two rounds as I think that would be the key to play well here,” said the 25-year-old Thai.
A win this week will allow Pavit to topple current leader Chan Shih-chang of Chinese Taipei on the ADT Order of Merit.
“It’s getting tougher in every tournament because everyone is playing well and it’s getting very competitive with only a few tournaments left to play. I will just try to play my best and not think too much about the outcome,” added Pavit, who mixed his card with seven birdies against three bogeys.
The halfway cut was set at three-over-par 145 with a total of 54 players, including a local amateur, progressing into the final two rounds.
The Chang Hwa Open is the ADT’s third and final stop in Chinese Taipei this season, following the successful staging of the Taifong Open and Ballantine’s Taiwan Championship in July and August respectively.
Since its inauguration in 2010, the ADT has grown from five events in the first year to a record 21 tournaments in 2014. The top-five finishers on the Order of Merit at the end of the season will earn Asian Tour cards for 2015.
All ADT events also receive Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) status which is a boost for the game in the region.
Leading second round scores:
136 – LIN Chien-bing (TPE) 70-66
137 – Pavit TANGKAMOLPRASERT (THA) 70-67
138 – Niall TURNER (IRE) 72-66, Rory HIE (INA) 72-66, HSU Hao-sheng (TPE) 71-67, LIEN Chi-wei (TPE) 71-67
139 – Mathiam KEYSER (RSA) 68-71, HUNG Chun-kang (TPE) 72-67
140 – YEH Chang-ting (TPE) 70-70, YU Chun-an (A) (TPE) 70-70
141 – TSENG Hong-sheng (TPE) 73-68, CHAN Yih-shin (TPE) 67-74, Rattanon WANNASRICHAN (THA) 71-70, Mitsuhiko HASHIZUME (JPN) 71-70, Grant JACKSON (ENG) 67-74
Friday, October 17, 2014
Top Five Finish In Sight For Kurnia Herishandy At PGM-ASEAN PGA Port Dickson Championship
The 23-year-old leads by a shot from experienced campaigner Mohd Sukree Othman of Malaysia and Thailand’s Ratchapol Jantavara, who is looking for his first top-10 finish of the season on the ASEAN PGA Tour.
Unheralded Thai Natthapong Niyomchon shot up the leaderboard into joint fourth place – two shots off the pace – with a best of the day 65. He is tied with countrymen Tanatchan Puaktes (69) and Pipatpong Naewsuk, the first round pacesetter who fell back with a level-par 71.
Another round of 2 under par saw Indonesian Kurnia Herishandy climb to a tie for 7th place on the leaderboard, just 3 shots from the leader. Another good round tomorrow could propel him into a deserving PGM-ASEAN PGA Tour Ctop-5 spot.
De Silva, who came to prominence with victory in the PGM Sarawak Masters in 2012, slipped out of the lead when playing partner Pipatpong birdied the opening two holes at Port Dickson Golf and Country Club.
But the erratic Pipatpong could not hold onto the advantage with three bogeys against two birdies in five holes and was one behind De Silva, who carded two birdies and a bogey in the outward nine, at the turn.
Pipatpong, currently fifth on the 2014 Road to Sabah Masters rankings, was steadier on the back nine with eight pars and a bogey for a 71 but found himself two adrift after De Silva cancelled out two birdies with two bogeys for a total of seven-under 206.
Othman, who shared the lead going into the PGM-ASEAN PGA Melaka Championship in March before slipping down the leaderboard with a final-round 76, mixed four birdies and two bogeys to stay in touch with De Silva.
Two birdies in the closing four holes helped Ratchapol to a one-under 70 as he stayed on course for his best finish of the year.
Leading third round scores (Par 71):
206 – Kenneth De Silva (Mas) 68-68-70
207 – Mohd Sukree Othman (Mas) 69-69-69, Ratchapol Jantavara (Tha) 68-69-70
208- Natthapong Niyomchon (Tha) 70-73-65, Tanatchan Puaktes (Tha) 72-67-69, Pipatpong Naewsuk (Tha) 64-73-71
209 – Kurnia Herishandy (Ina) 71-69-69, Wilson Choo Zhe Ming (Mas) 69-69-71, Lim Eng Seng (Mas) 69-68-72
210 – Mohd Azman Basharudin (Mas) 69-71-70, Varan Israbhakdi (Tha) 70-70-70
Selected:
224 - Adi Bramantio (Ina) 74-73-77
Thursday, October 16, 2014
Kurnia Herishandy Enters Top Ten At Halfway Point Of PGM-ASEAN PGA Port Dickson Championship
De Silva, who came to prominence with victory in the PGM Sarawak Masters in 2012, shot a second-round 68 for a total of six-under-par 136 and a one-stroke advantage over countryman Lim Eng Seng (68) and Thais Pipatpong and Ratchapol Jantavara.
Pipatpong, currently fifth on the 2014 Road to Sabah Masters rankings, looked to have righted the ship with four birdies in six holes after going bogey, bogey early in his the round but dropped out of the lead with a double bogey at the seventh (his 16th after starting at the 10th) and a bogey at the next.
The Thai, a double gold medalist at the 2007 SEA Games, also bogeyed the third hole on his way to a two-over 73.
De Silva had an up-and-down day mixing six bogeys with three birdies at Port Dickson Golf and Country Club.
The 23-year-old was 30th in a PGM event over the course in late September and finished joint 14th in the PGM-ASEAN PGA Melaka Championship in May.
Ratchapol, who has made the cut in all six events on the ASEAN PGA Tour this season but has still to register a top-10 finish, carded five birdies, a double bogey and a bogey in a round 69.
Thailand’s Kwanchai Tannin, last season’s ASEAN PGA Tour number one who was joint third after the first round, fell back with a 74 and his teenaged countryman Phachara Khongwatmai, who won last year’s Singha Hua Hin Open aged just 14, added a 73 to his opening 74 and lies in joint 50th spot.
Indonesia's Kurnia Herishandy was able to enter to top ten with a round of 2 under par following an even par 71 on the first day. Adi Bramantio, the only other Indonesian player here, was in 50th place with rounds of 74 and 73.
Leading second round scores (Par - 71):
136 - Kenneth De Silva (Mas) 68-68
137 - Ratchapol Jantavara (Tha) 68-69, Pipatpong Naewsuk (Tha) 64-73, Lim Eng Seng (Mas) 69-68
138 - Varut Chomchalam (Tha) 66-72, Wilson Choo Zhe Ming (Mas) 69-69, Mohd Sukree Othman (Mas) 69-69
139 - Tanatchan Puaktes (Tha) 72-67, Kemarol Baharin (Mas) 67-72
140 - Airil Rizman (Mas) 68-72, Varan Israbhakdi (Tha) 70-70, Mohd Azman Basharudin (Mas) 69-71, Kurnia Herishandy (Ina) 71-69
Selected:
147 - Adi Bramantio (INA) 74-73
Friday, October 10, 2014
I Ketut Sugiarta Claims Second Win On The Indonesian Golf Tour At Palm Hill
Leading from the second round, Ketut recorded 70-71-68 and posted a total score of seven-under-par 209. Ketut, who currently ranks third in the Order of Merit successfully fulfilled his hope to finish in the top five of the 8th edition where he sealed the tournament as the champion of the day.
“In the second round my putting was not good enough. I scored ‘under-par’, but still, it is not enough. I practiced my putting yesterday and it worked well today, and that helped a lot.”
“The Indonesian Golf Tour presented by Linc Group is giving us motivation to play well. The tournament series also gives opportunity for amateur golfers to participate and improve their ability. This is good for golf development in Indonesia.” said the two-time Indonesian Golf Tour champion.
Starting the final round tied in third place with Jordan Surya Irawan , Ian Andrew fought his way to finish in second place. Ian played brilliantly, generating seven birdies in the final round alone with a total score of five-under-par, 211 (71-73-67).
Finishing in third place, Rinaldi Adiyandono scored three-under-par, 213 (68-74-71).
“I Ketut played very well today, he controlled his emotions and was very calm. Even when he made a bogey on hole 10, he stayed calm as if nothing happened. I learnt so much from him today.” Said Rinaldi.
During the prize giving ceremony, Ketut expressed his gratitude to the Indonesian Golf Tour presented by Linc Group. “Thank you to Linc Group for this magnificent golf tour series. A big thanks to Palm Hill Golf Club too who provided us with a very nice, yet challenging golf course. We need this kind of tournament series to get better.” said I Ketut Sugiarta in his champion speech.
The top 30 playeers from the Indonesian Golf Tour Order of Merit are now confirmed. These 30 golf professionals will compete in the Road to Indonesian Golf Championship, Indonesian Golf Tour Grand Final in December 2014.
Thursday, October 9, 2014
I Ketut Sugiarta Goes Top In Second Round Of The Indonesian Golf Tour At Palm Hill
"I played well today. My putting has been good throughout the whole round. I hope I can finish top five tomorrow, and qualify for the grand finale where I'm aiming to be in top three." smiled Ketut with confidence.
Rinaldi Adiyandono rolled to second place in round two, playing 74 with total score two-under-par 142. Not satisfied with his putting, Rinaldi wants to maintain his focus for the final day.
"My putts are a bit off today. Not as good as yesterday. I actually birdied all par 5s, but not many on par 4s. I will try to keep my focus on each of my strokes for tomorrow and have fun on the course." said 28-years-old Rinaldi Adiyandono.
Jordan Surya Irawan who played consistently 72-72, recorded an even-par both days in a row with total score 144 and tied with Ian Andrew in third place.
Overnight amateur leader, Sim Min Sub still hold his position at the top, but unfortunately no amateur will play in the final round of the Indonesian Golf Tour presented by Linc Group as all missed the cut.
Hashilla Rivai Makes Impression In USA At Thornton Academy
Indonesia's Hashilla Rivai arrived from metropolitan Jakarta in Saco, Maine USA (population 18,500), to further her education and improving her golf game. That she's doing very well you can read in the following article in the Portland Press Herald.
http://www.pressherald.com/2014/09/30/thornton-golfer-from-indonesia-fitting-right-in/
http://www.pressherald.com/2014/09/30/thornton-golfer-from-indonesia-fitting-right-in/
Early Lead For Rinaldi In The Indonesian Golf Tour At Palm Hill
“I learned that the green surface was a bit hard during my practice round. So I changed my game plan and it worked really well. I tried to generate as many birdies as I could and successfully produced 5 birdies on the front nine and 2 on the back nine.” Said Rinaldi.
Closing tight in second place was Irwansyah who finished round one with a two-under-par, 70. Irwansyah and Rinaldi were tied with four-under-par before Irwansyah ended up scoring 2 bogeys on his back nine to hand the lead over to Rinaldi Adiyandono.
Meanwhile in the amateur division, Sim Min Sub leads round one after recording a 7-over-par, 79. Sim successfully overcame all of the other amateur golfers who participated in this first ever, professional/amateur golf tour circuit in Indonesia. The Indonesian Golf Tour presented by Linc Group field is unique where the participants consist of 80 professional golfers, 30 male amateur golfers, 20 female amateur golfers, and 14 invitee golfers all playing in one field under tournament conditions.
Palm Hill Golf club proudly hosts the Indonesian Golf Tour presented by Linc Group for the second time this year. The Golf course's support is a major boost for golf professional development in Indonesia. The series hopes to see more support from the golf industry in Indonesia as Indonesian Golf Tour is slated to take Indonesian Professional Golf to a new level.
With the Tour leading into a Grand Finale in December this year, the 8th edition of Indonesian Golf Tour presented by Linc Group is getting more competitive. Every player is pushing their game to get into the top 30 so they can qualify for the grand finale.
The top 30 golf professionals and top 10 amateurs will play for the grand prize purse of Rp.500.000,000 with all golf professionals guaranteed winnings in the 4-day tournament as well as the three top professional securing themselves a country exemption spot on the Asian Development Tour for the 2015 season.
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