Asian Tour Press Release
McDowell (64) goes two shots clear in
Ballantine's Championship in S Korea
Jeju Island, Korea, March 14: Northern Ireland’s Graeme McDowell, twice a winner on the European Tour, finished strongly with the day’s best score of eight-under-par 64 to take the clubhouse lead at the inaugural Ballantine’s Championship today.
McDowell’s 12-under-par 132 total left the 28-year old two strokes better than Sweden’s Johan Edfors and India’s Jeev Milkha Singh, who are both tied for second on 134 after the start of the second round was delay for almost two hours due to strong winds.
Unheralded Kim Hyung-tae of Korea and Ireland’s Ryder Cup star Paul McGinley are a shot further back in joint-fourth position after carding matching 135s at the US$2.9 million event sanctioned by the Asian Tour, European Tour and Korean PGA.
McDowell took advantage of the calmer weather in the afternoon due to his late start to produce a blemish-free round highlighted by an eagle on the 10th and six birdies.
“We got lucky with the weather this afternoon. It was blowing 30 miles an hour probably when we teed off, so much so that I drove it on the first green and mysteriously, the wind just dropped. It was amazing!” said McDowell.
“I’m very happy, obviously fortunate and nice to play well and give myself a chance this weekend.”
2006 Asian Tour Order of Merit winner, Singh continued his amazing comeback from a freak accident last week and a flu bug to move up one position to second after finishing his round in near darkness.
“I’m used to playing in such darkness when I’m at home but not the cold! We were running after the 17th as we wanted to tee off on the 18th to make sure we finished our rounds,” said Singh.
“I think I had more joy of finishing and finishing the way I did with six-under today. I couldn’t have asked for better. Now I can enjoy my meal!”
Kim survived the early gusty conditions at the Pinx Golf Club, finishing with a 66 to match McGinley, who had started the day in joint-third after play had resumed.
Kim started the day in joint-13 position and played it safe by going for pars amidst the windy conditions. That strategy paid off for the 30-year old Korean.
“My caddie and I took very cautious approach in reading the lies and because of the strong winds, I tried to go for pars, but the winds helped me with several birdies chances, resulting in good scores,” said a delighted Kim
McGinley, starting on the 10th tee, got off to a start he had wanted with an opening birdie but made even pars in his back-nine after that. He turned on full throttle, firing off four consecutive birdies from the fourth hole to race into contention.
“It’s a great start and good position. I’m pleased obviously,” said McGinley who did not let the strong winds affect his game.
“My record over the years in windy conditions has always been quite decent. Although the golf course was windy, it was still yielding chances for birdies,” added McGinley who had a total of five birdies.
The marquee names at this week’s US$2.9 million event sanctioned by the Asian Tour, European Tour and Korean PGA did not fail to disappoint.
Fast rising American sensation Anthony Kim, who already has six top-10 finishes on the US PGA Tour in just 17 months as a professional, produced another flawless performance to stay in contention for the title.
The American had initially planned to play it safe, going for pars in his second round today.
However, the strength of his drives presented the 22-year-old Californian with several birdies opportunities instead.
“I was trying to go more for pars than for birdies. But I guess the distance of my tee shots presented me with more birdie opportunities than pars,” laughed the big-hitting American.
Korea’s sporting icon, Choi Kyung-yu was left to rue several missed birdies chances but still managed to post a 69 to improve on his previous opening score of 71.
“Nothing really went bad today. It was just one of those days where the putts couldn’t go in and I missed a lot of birdie chances,” said Choi.
“I think I’m still in a good position for tomorrow, so I’m pretty happy. If I get my putting going, it’s going to improve,” added the current world No. 5.
Because of the time lost at the start of the day, the later starters did not complete their second rounds so it was not possible to make a halfway cut. A total of 47 players will go out at 7.45am Saturday morning to completed their rounds.
Sandy Lye retired due to a wrist injury while Australia’s Unho Park and France’s Raphael Jacquelin withdrew due to sickness and personal reasons respectively.
SATURDAY MORNING NEWS:
A total of 67 players made the halfway cut which was set at even-par 144.
THIRD-ROUND QUALIFIERS
Par 144 (2 x 72)
132 Graeme McDowell 68 64
134 Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind) 68 66, Johan Edfors (Swe) 69 65
135 Hyung-tae Kim (Jpn) 69 66, Paul McGinley 68 67
136 Anthony Kim (USA) 68 68, Thomas Bjorn (Den) 70 66, Padraig Harrington 71 65
137 Inn-choon Hwang (Kor) 68 69, Mikko Ilonen (Fin) 67 70, Terry Pilkadaris (Aus) 71 66
138 Chris DiMarco (USA) 70 68, Ariel Canete (Arg) 70 68, Shingo Katayama (Jpn) 68 70
139 Oliver Wilson 70 69, Prayad Marksaeng (Tha) 68 71, Thaworn Wiratchant (Tha) 69 70, Kane Webber (USA) 71 68
140 Damien McGrane 71 69, David Griffiths 69 71, Tae-hyun Jun (Kor) 69 71, Carlos Rodiles (Spa) 69 71, David Frost (Rsa) 69 71, Gary Simpson (Aus) 70 70, Scott Barr (Aus) 70 70, KJ Choi (Kor) 71 69, Tom Whitehouse 70 70, Jyoti Randhawa (Ind) 68 72
141 Francesco Molinari (Ita) 69 72, Maarten Lafeber (Ned) 71 70, Anthony Kang (USA) 70 71, Phillip Archer 71 70, Jong Yul Suk (Kor) 71 70, David Bransdon (Aus) 72 69, S K Ho (Kor) 74 67, Adam Blyth (Aus) 69 72
142 Prom Meesawat (Tha) 71 71, David Lynn 71 71, Simon Griffiths 68 74, Paul Broadhurst 70 72, Tony Carolan (Aus) 67 75, Sang-moon Bae (Kor) 71 71, Emanuele Canonica (Ita) 71 71, Hyung-sung Kim (Kor) 72 70
143 Daniel Vancsik (Arg) 70 73, Juvic Pagunsan (Phi) 70 73, Garry Houston 69 74, Zane Scotland 74 69, Yong-eun Yang (Kor) 73 70, Wen-Tang Lin (Tpe) 72 71, Wook-Soon Kang (Kor) 73 70, Do-kyu Park (Kor) 71 72, Jose Manuel Lara (Spa) 72 71
144 Ter-Chang Wang (Tpe) 71 73, Gaurav Ghei (Ind) 72 72, Frankie Minoza (Phi) 75 69, Martin Erlandsson (Swe) 71 73, Sang-ki Kim (Kor) 70 74, Mardan Mamat (Sin) 73 71, Kyung-Tae Kim (Kor) 74 70, Oliver Fisher 70 74, Felipe Aguilar (Col) 72 72, Marcus Both (Aus) 74 70, Gavin Flint (Aus) 72 72, Joong Kyung Mo (Kor) 74 70, Thomas Aiken (Rsa) 71 73, Thomas Levet (Fra) 71 73
MISSED THE CUT
145 Keiichiro Fukabori (Jpn) 75 70, Carl Suneson (Spa) 73 72, Gerald Rosales (Phi) 73 72, Simon Yates 71 74
146 Seung-ho Lee (Kor) 73 73, Chris Rodgers 73 73, Lee Sung (Kor) 77 69, Adam Groom (Aus) 72 74, Magnus A Carlsson (Swe) 73 73, Sung-hoon Kang (Kor) 73 73, Scott Hend (Aus) 68 78, Stephen Gallacher 70 76, Soon-sang Hong (Kor) 71 75, Dae-hyun Kim (Kor) 75 71, Fabrizio Zanotti (Par) 71 75
147 Richard Lee (Nzl) 75 72, Young-Woo Nam (Kor) 72 75, Shiv Kapur (Ind) 74 73, Rafael Echenique (Arg) 77 70, Eddie Lee (Nzl) 74 73, Rory McIlroy 76 71, Thammanoon Srirot (Tha) 71 76, Jean-Francois Remesy (Fra) 73 74, Chinarat Phadungsil (Tha) 73 74, Mark Foster 72 75, Young-kyu Kim (Kor) 77 70, Young-soo Park (Kor) 72 75, Chang-yoon Kim (Kor) 76 71, Edoardo Molinari (Ita) 72 75
148 Gareth Paddison (Nzl) 76 72, Gary Murphy 76 72, Iain Steel (Mal) 72 76, Artemio-hiromasa Murakami (Phi) 73 75, Robert Dinwiddie 73 75, Jean Van de velde (Fra) 76 72, Hyung-kyu Choi (Kor) 71 77
149 Wei Chih Lu (Tha) 76 73, Shih-chang Chan (Hkg) 71 78, Wen-chong Liang (Chn) 76 73, Scott Strange (Aus) 73 76, Julio Zapata (Arg) 73 76, Jason Knutzon (USA) 77 72
150 Airil Rizman (Mal) 73 77, David Gleeson (Aus) 70 80, Luis Claverie (Spa) 74 76, Chen-chih Jang (Tpe) 73 77, Steven Jeppesen (Swe) 72 78, Ted Oh (Kor) 73 77, Hideto Tanihara (Jpn) 74 76
151 Richard Bland 73 78, Tomohiro Kondo (Jpn) 74 77, Sung-chul Bae (Kor) 70 81, Yong-jin Shin (Kor) 72 79
152 Doo-hwan Bang (Kor) 80 72, Young jin Kim (Kor) 74 78, Jin-ho Choi (Kor) 77 75
153 Wi-joong Kim (Kor) 77 76, Lei Shang (Tpe) 74 79
157 Nam-sin Park (Kor) 79 78
Withdrawn: Unho Park (Aus) 77, Raphael Jacquelin (Fra) 69, Sandy Lyle 76, Bryan Saltus (USA) 76, Kang Kyung-Nam (Kor) 75, Lee In-Woo (Kor) 73
Ballantine's Championship in S Korea
Jeju Island, Korea, March 14: Northern Ireland’s Graeme McDowell, twice a winner on the European Tour, finished strongly with the day’s best score of eight-under-par 64 to take the clubhouse lead at the inaugural Ballantine’s Championship today.
McDowell’s 12-under-par 132 total left the 28-year old two strokes better than Sweden’s Johan Edfors and India’s Jeev Milkha Singh, who are both tied for second on 134 after the start of the second round was delay for almost two hours due to strong winds.
Unheralded Kim Hyung-tae of Korea and Ireland’s Ryder Cup star Paul McGinley are a shot further back in joint-fourth position after carding matching 135s at the US$2.9 million event sanctioned by the Asian Tour, European Tour and Korean PGA.
McDowell took advantage of the calmer weather in the afternoon due to his late start to produce a blemish-free round highlighted by an eagle on the 10th and six birdies.
“We got lucky with the weather this afternoon. It was blowing 30 miles an hour probably when we teed off, so much so that I drove it on the first green and mysteriously, the wind just dropped. It was amazing!” said McDowell.
“I’m very happy, obviously fortunate and nice to play well and give myself a chance this weekend.”
2006 Asian Tour Order of Merit winner, Singh continued his amazing comeback from a freak accident last week and a flu bug to move up one position to second after finishing his round in near darkness.
“I’m used to playing in such darkness when I’m at home but not the cold! We were running after the 17th as we wanted to tee off on the 18th to make sure we finished our rounds,” said Singh.
“I think I had more joy of finishing and finishing the way I did with six-under today. I couldn’t have asked for better. Now I can enjoy my meal!”
Kim survived the early gusty conditions at the Pinx Golf Club, finishing with a 66 to match McGinley, who had started the day in joint-third after play had resumed.
Kim started the day in joint-13 position and played it safe by going for pars amidst the windy conditions. That strategy paid off for the 30-year old Korean.
“My caddie and I took very cautious approach in reading the lies and because of the strong winds, I tried to go for pars, but the winds helped me with several birdies chances, resulting in good scores,” said a delighted Kim
McGinley, starting on the 10th tee, got off to a start he had wanted with an opening birdie but made even pars in his back-nine after that. He turned on full throttle, firing off four consecutive birdies from the fourth hole to race into contention.
“It’s a great start and good position. I’m pleased obviously,” said McGinley who did not let the strong winds affect his game.
“My record over the years in windy conditions has always been quite decent. Although the golf course was windy, it was still yielding chances for birdies,” added McGinley who had a total of five birdies.
The marquee names at this week’s US$2.9 million event sanctioned by the Asian Tour, European Tour and Korean PGA did not fail to disappoint.
Fast rising American sensation Anthony Kim, who already has six top-10 finishes on the US PGA Tour in just 17 months as a professional, produced another flawless performance to stay in contention for the title.
The American had initially planned to play it safe, going for pars in his second round today.
However, the strength of his drives presented the 22-year-old Californian with several birdies opportunities instead.
“I was trying to go more for pars than for birdies. But I guess the distance of my tee shots presented me with more birdie opportunities than pars,” laughed the big-hitting American.
Korea’s sporting icon, Choi Kyung-yu was left to rue several missed birdies chances but still managed to post a 69 to improve on his previous opening score of 71.
“Nothing really went bad today. It was just one of those days where the putts couldn’t go in and I missed a lot of birdie chances,” said Choi.
“I think I’m still in a good position for tomorrow, so I’m pretty happy. If I get my putting going, it’s going to improve,” added the current world No. 5.
Because of the time lost at the start of the day, the later starters did not complete their second rounds so it was not possible to make a halfway cut. A total of 47 players will go out at 7.45am Saturday morning to completed their rounds.
Sandy Lye retired due to a wrist injury while Australia’s Unho Park and France’s Raphael Jacquelin withdrew due to sickness and personal reasons respectively.
SATURDAY MORNING NEWS:
A total of 67 players made the halfway cut which was set at even-par 144.
THIRD-ROUND QUALIFIERS
Par 144 (2 x 72)
132 Graeme McDowell 68 64
134 Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind) 68 66, Johan Edfors (Swe) 69 65
135 Hyung-tae Kim (Jpn) 69 66, Paul McGinley 68 67
136 Anthony Kim (USA) 68 68, Thomas Bjorn (Den) 70 66, Padraig Harrington 71 65
137 Inn-choon Hwang (Kor) 68 69, Mikko Ilonen (Fin) 67 70, Terry Pilkadaris (Aus) 71 66
138 Chris DiMarco (USA) 70 68, Ariel Canete (Arg) 70 68, Shingo Katayama (Jpn) 68 70
139 Oliver Wilson 70 69, Prayad Marksaeng (Tha) 68 71, Thaworn Wiratchant (Tha) 69 70, Kane Webber (USA) 71 68
140 Damien McGrane 71 69, David Griffiths 69 71, Tae-hyun Jun (Kor) 69 71, Carlos Rodiles (Spa) 69 71, David Frost (Rsa) 69 71, Gary Simpson (Aus) 70 70, Scott Barr (Aus) 70 70, KJ Choi (Kor) 71 69, Tom Whitehouse 70 70, Jyoti Randhawa (Ind) 68 72
141 Francesco Molinari (Ita) 69 72, Maarten Lafeber (Ned) 71 70, Anthony Kang (USA) 70 71, Phillip Archer 71 70, Jong Yul Suk (Kor) 71 70, David Bransdon (Aus) 72 69, S K Ho (Kor) 74 67, Adam Blyth (Aus) 69 72
142 Prom Meesawat (Tha) 71 71, David Lynn 71 71, Simon Griffiths 68 74, Paul Broadhurst 70 72, Tony Carolan (Aus) 67 75, Sang-moon Bae (Kor) 71 71, Emanuele Canonica (Ita) 71 71, Hyung-sung Kim (Kor) 72 70
143 Daniel Vancsik (Arg) 70 73, Juvic Pagunsan (Phi) 70 73, Garry Houston 69 74, Zane Scotland 74 69, Yong-eun Yang (Kor) 73 70, Wen-Tang Lin (Tpe) 72 71, Wook-Soon Kang (Kor) 73 70, Do-kyu Park (Kor) 71 72, Jose Manuel Lara (Spa) 72 71
144 Ter-Chang Wang (Tpe) 71 73, Gaurav Ghei (Ind) 72 72, Frankie Minoza (Phi) 75 69, Martin Erlandsson (Swe) 71 73, Sang-ki Kim (Kor) 70 74, Mardan Mamat (Sin) 73 71, Kyung-Tae Kim (Kor) 74 70, Oliver Fisher 70 74, Felipe Aguilar (Col) 72 72, Marcus Both (Aus) 74 70, Gavin Flint (Aus) 72 72, Joong Kyung Mo (Kor) 74 70, Thomas Aiken (Rsa) 71 73, Thomas Levet (Fra) 71 73
MISSED THE CUT
145 Keiichiro Fukabori (Jpn) 75 70, Carl Suneson (Spa) 73 72, Gerald Rosales (Phi) 73 72, Simon Yates 71 74
146 Seung-ho Lee (Kor) 73 73, Chris Rodgers 73 73, Lee Sung (Kor) 77 69, Adam Groom (Aus) 72 74, Magnus A Carlsson (Swe) 73 73, Sung-hoon Kang (Kor) 73 73, Scott Hend (Aus) 68 78, Stephen Gallacher 70 76, Soon-sang Hong (Kor) 71 75, Dae-hyun Kim (Kor) 75 71, Fabrizio Zanotti (Par) 71 75
147 Richard Lee (Nzl) 75 72, Young-Woo Nam (Kor) 72 75, Shiv Kapur (Ind) 74 73, Rafael Echenique (Arg) 77 70, Eddie Lee (Nzl) 74 73, Rory McIlroy 76 71, Thammanoon Srirot (Tha) 71 76, Jean-Francois Remesy (Fra) 73 74, Chinarat Phadungsil (Tha) 73 74, Mark Foster 72 75, Young-kyu Kim (Kor) 77 70, Young-soo Park (Kor) 72 75, Chang-yoon Kim (Kor) 76 71, Edoardo Molinari (Ita) 72 75
148 Gareth Paddison (Nzl) 76 72, Gary Murphy 76 72, Iain Steel (Mal) 72 76, Artemio-hiromasa Murakami (Phi) 73 75, Robert Dinwiddie 73 75, Jean Van de velde (Fra) 76 72, Hyung-kyu Choi (Kor) 71 77
149 Wei Chih Lu (Tha) 76 73, Shih-chang Chan (Hkg) 71 78, Wen-chong Liang (Chn) 76 73, Scott Strange (Aus) 73 76, Julio Zapata (Arg) 73 76, Jason Knutzon (USA) 77 72
150 Airil Rizman (Mal) 73 77, David Gleeson (Aus) 70 80, Luis Claverie (Spa) 74 76, Chen-chih Jang (Tpe) 73 77, Steven Jeppesen (Swe) 72 78, Ted Oh (Kor) 73 77, Hideto Tanihara (Jpn) 74 76
151 Richard Bland 73 78, Tomohiro Kondo (Jpn) 74 77, Sung-chul Bae (Kor) 70 81, Yong-jin Shin (Kor) 72 79
152 Doo-hwan Bang (Kor) 80 72, Young jin Kim (Kor) 74 78, Jin-ho Choi (Kor) 77 75
153 Wi-joong Kim (Kor) 77 76, Lei Shang (Tpe) 74 79
157 Nam-sin Park (Kor) 79 78
Withdrawn: Unho Park (Aus) 77, Raphael Jacquelin (Fra) 69, Sandy Lyle 76, Bryan Saltus (USA) 76, Kang Kyung-Nam (Kor) 75, Lee In-Woo (Kor) 73
Labels: ASIAN TOUR
posted by Colin |
See story on its own page | Friday, March 14, 2008
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