Aberdonian Sim nowjoint 7th in Johnnie
Walker Classic
Sim lost his full playing rights on the US PGA Tour after suffering a stress fracture of the lower spine during the winter between gaining promotion from the US Nationwide Tour and actually making his debut on the No 1 American circuit.
He has had two rounds of 69 and a third-round 67 for a tally of 11-under-par 205 only two shots behind the new joint leaders, the English duo of John Bickerton and Ross McGowan who broke away from a crowded leaderboard to share the third round lead.
The co-leaders produced bogey-free cards with McGowan firing a seven-under-par 65, one better than Bickerton as they ended the round on 14-under-par 202.
Lying two shots back are Australian Terry Pilkadaris (68), Frenchman Raphael Jacquelin (66), Felipe Aguilar of Chile 68) and New Zealand amateur Danny Lee (69).
Korean rising star Bae Sang-moon, a two-time winner on the Asian Tour, charged into contention with a 65 to lie three off the pace alongside experienced Japanese campaigner Hiroyuki Fujita, who carded a 70.
“So far, so good,” said Bickerton, who missed four cuts on the trot before arriving for the Johnnie Walker Classic.
Chasing a fourth career victory, the 39-year-old Bickerton said his mental approach was rock solid after a telephone conversation with his sports psychologist Jamil Qureshi on Friday night.
“I’m not giving any secrets away, but today I was quite focused and concentrated on playing the golf course and not the scoreboard. You do get nervous out there, there's no doubt about it. But today I was very calm and I actually enjoyed it.”
McGowan, the English amateur champion in 2006, put himself in prime position for a career breakthrough at the Johnnie Walker Classic, which is sanctioned by the Asian Tour, European Tour and PGA Tour of Australasia.
“It’s where you want to be. A good round tomorrow, and we’ll see how it goes,” said the 26-year-old. “I just hit the ball nicely and hit a lot of fairways. Around here if you can do that, the second shots, third shots, aren't too tough. I just played solid and hit the ball fairly close to about 10 feet most of the day and made a few putts.”
The 18-year-old Lee, who became the youngest winner of the US Amateur Championship last year, could play his way into the history books by becoming the first amateur to win the Johnnie Walker Classic, whose past champions include Tiger Woods, Greg Norman, Nick Faldo and Ernie Els.
He agonisingly missed a three-foot eagle chance on the last hole to draw closer to the English leaders. “I'm only like two behind. I still think I can win this tournament. As I said, I'm really happy to make the cut, and all I've got to do is just play well,” said Lee.
Pilkadaris, a three-time winner on the Asian Tour, put on a grandstand finish with three birdies over his closing four holes for a 68 to surge into contention. “I was putting really well. I holed everything I looked at and when you do that, you’re going to score well and all of the sudden, the confidence goes up,” said Pilkadaris.
Big-hitting Bae needed only 26 putts to negotiate his way up the leaderboard. “On the first two days, I couldn’t hole my putts. I had so many chances but kept missing from one to two metres. But after yesterday’s round, I spent an hour at the putting green just trying to read the lines better and it worked,” said Bae, who is hoping to become the first Asian winner at the Johnnie Walker Classic.
“If I can shoot another 65 tomorrow, I’ll have a chance. I’ll be trying but I’ll need to concentrate well in the final day and play well on every hole.”
Fujita, a six-time winner in Japan, opened with successive bogeys but bounced back with a back nine 32 which included five birdies. “I was missing shots on the front nine and then made some adjustments to my swing which worked. I holed a bunker shot on the 13th for birdie which got me going,” he said.
Lying two shots back are Australian Terry Pilkadaris (68), Frenchman Raphael Jacquelin (66), Felipe Aguilar of Chile 68) and New Zealand amateur Danny Lee (69).
Korean rising star Bae Sang-moon, a two-time winner on the Asian Tour, charged into contention with a 65 to lie three off the pace alongside experienced Japanese campaigner Hiroyuki Fujita, who carded a 70.
“So far, so good,” said Bickerton, who missed four cuts on the trot before arriving for the Johnnie Walker Classic.
Chasing a fourth career victory, the 39-year-old Bickerton said his mental approach was rock solid after a telephone conversation with his sports psychologist Jamil Qureshi on Friday night.
“I’m not giving any secrets away, but today I was quite focused and concentrated on playing the golf course and not the scoreboard. You do get nervous out there, there's no doubt about it. But today I was very calm and I actually enjoyed it.”
McGowan, the English amateur champion in 2006, put himself in prime position for a career breakthrough at the Johnnie Walker Classic, which is sanctioned by the Asian Tour, European Tour and PGA Tour of Australasia.
“It’s where you want to be. A good round tomorrow, and we’ll see how it goes,” said the 26-year-old. “I just hit the ball nicely and hit a lot of fairways. Around here if you can do that, the second shots, third shots, aren't too tough. I just played solid and hit the ball fairly close to about 10 feet most of the day and made a few putts.”
The 18-year-old Lee, who became the youngest winner of the US Amateur Championship last year, could play his way into the history books by becoming the first amateur to win the Johnnie Walker Classic, whose past champions include Tiger Woods, Greg Norman, Nick Faldo and Ernie Els.
He agonisingly missed a three-foot eagle chance on the last hole to draw closer to the English leaders. “I'm only like two behind. I still think I can win this tournament. As I said, I'm really happy to make the cut, and all I've got to do is just play well,” said Lee.
Pilkadaris, a three-time winner on the Asian Tour, put on a grandstand finish with three birdies over his closing four holes for a 68 to surge into contention. “I was putting really well. I holed everything I looked at and when you do that, you’re going to score well and all of the sudden, the confidence goes up,” said Pilkadaris.
Big-hitting Bae needed only 26 putts to negotiate his way up the leaderboard. “On the first two days, I couldn’t hole my putts. I had so many chances but kept missing from one to two metres. But after yesterday’s round, I spent an hour at the putting green just trying to read the lines better and it worked,” said Bae, who is hoping to become the first Asian winner at the Johnnie Walker Classic.
“If I can shoot another 65 tomorrow, I’ll have a chance. I’ll be trying but I’ll need to concentrate well in the final day and play well on every hole.”
Fujita, a six-time winner in Japan, opened with successive bogeys but bounced back with a back nine 32 which included five birdies. “I was missing shots on the front nine and then made some adjustments to my swing which worked. I holed a bunker shot on the 13th for birdie which got me going,” he said.
Richie Ramsay, the second Aberdonian in the field, could have done with some of Michael Sim's figures. Richie's early days on the European Tour are being blighted by well-over-par rounds that pop up to mar his overall totals. Today he had a four-over-par 76 and now has only four players behind him on the scoreboard as he stands on one-over-par 217.
Ryder Cup captain Colin Montgomerie had a 72 for 209 while one-time Ryder Cup player Andrew Coltart also matched the par of 72 for 213.
Ryder Cup captain Colin Montgomerie had a 72 for 209 while one-time Ryder Cup player Andrew Coltart also matched the par of 72 for 213.
THIRD ROUND TOTALS
Par 216 (3 x 72)
202 John Bickerton 66 70 66, Ross McGowan 70 67 65
204 Danny Lee (Nzl) 67 68 69, Felipe Aguilar (Chi) 68 68 68, Terry Pilkadaris (Aus) 70 66 68, Raphael Jacquelin (Fra) 70 68 66
205 Robert Jan Derksen (Ned) 64 72 69, Michael Sim 69 69 67, Sang-moon Bae (Kor) 70 70 65, Ignacio Garrido (Spa) 67 68 70, Hiroyuki Fujita (Jpn) 67 68 70
206 Damien McGrane 66 68 72, Niclas Fasth (Swe) 70 69 67, Gareth Maybin 68 70 68, Andrew Dodt (Aus) 70 66 70, Peter Senior (Aus) 70 67 69, Peter Lawrie 67 70 69
207 Won Joon Lee (Aus) 71 70 66, Taichiro Kiyota (Jpn) 68 70 69, David Frost (Rsa) 73 64 70, Lee Westwood 66 73 68, Adam Blyth (Aus) 68 68 71
208 Chris Gaunt (Aus) 68 69 71, Mardan Mamat (Sin) 65 71 72, Seve Benson 70 67 71, Tony Carolan (Aus) 65 72 71, Ian Poulter 68 69 71, Andre Stolz (Aus) 69 67 72, Markus Brier (Aut) 70 68 70, Michael Jonzon (Swe) 71 68 69
209 Scott Laycock (Aus) 68 71 70, Colin Montgomerie 67 70 72, Nick Dougherty 73 66 70, Tim Wood (Aus) 69 72 68, Peter Hedblom (Swe) 73 66 70, Paul Casey 71 68 70, Anthony Wall 70 70 69, Craig Parry (Aus) 71 69 69, Brad Kennedy (Aus) 71 68 70
210 Gary Lockerbie 69 69 72, David McKenzie (Aus) 68 73 69, David Smail (Nzl) 70 71 69, Alexander Noren (Swe) 68 69 73, Richard Finch 69 70 71, Graeme Storm 73 64 73
211 Francesco Molinari (Ita) 68 71 72, Robert Dinwiddie 71 70 70, Phillip Price 68 70 73, Pelle Edberg (Swe) 70 67 74, Anthony Kang (USA) 67 67 77, Brett Rumford (Aus) 71 70 70, Anthony Kim (USA) 68 68 75, Scott Hend (Aus) 68 72 71, Clint Rice (Aus) 67 71 73, Peter O'Malley (Aus) 73 68 70, Marcus Fraser (Aus) 70 71 70
212 Magnus A Carlsson (Swe) 71 67 74, Mikko Ilonen (Fin) 72 65 75, David Howell 70 68 74
213 Alistair Presnell (Aus) 72 68 73, Andrew Coltart 72 69 72, Simon Khan 68 73 72
214 Marcel Siem (Ger) 72 69 73, James Kamte (Rsa) 73 67 74
215 Jose Manuel Lara (Spa) 71 70 74
216 Hyung-sung Kim (Kor) 68 71 77
217 Richie Ramsay 68 73 76
218 Darren Beck (Aus) 70 70 78, Michael Long (Nzl) 74 67 77
220 Anton Haig (Rsa) 69 72 79
222 Benn Barham 68 72 82
For further information, visit http://www.asiantour.com/
Labels: ASIAN TOUR
posted by Colin |
See story on its own page | Saturday, February 21, 2009
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