Kang, McGrane share halfway

Johnnie Walker Classic lead

PRESS RELEASE FROM ASIAN TOUR

American Anthony Kang extended his rich vein of form to earn the joint halfway lead at the Johnnie Walker Classic today, five days after his memorable win in Malaysia.
The Asian Tour regular fired a second successive five-under-par 67 at The Vines Resort and Country Club at Perth, Western Australia to lead on 10-under-par 134 alongside Irishman Damien McGrane, who came in with a 68.
Japan’s Hiroyuki Fujita, New Zealand’s amateur sensation Danny Lee and Spaniard Ignacio Garrido were a stroke back after matching 68s in the £1.25 million event sanctioned by the Asian Tour, European Tour and PGA Tour of Australasia.
A birdie at the last hole for a 71 saw Mardan Mamat of Singapore stay within touching distance of the leaders on 136, in a share of sixth place with the likes of American rising star Anthony Kim and the Australian quartet of Adam Blyth, Terry Pilkadaris, Andrew Dodt and Andre Stolz.
However, it was the end of the road for Australian great Greg Norman and world number nine Camilo Villegas, who missed the cut after shooting 71s on another scorching day at The Vines.
Kang continued his dream run to give himself a shot at the Johnnie Walker Classic.

“You know, I'd be lying to you if I didn't think about winning two in a row. We've got a pretty stellar field and for me to do that, I think if you look at it statistically, it’s against the odds,” said Kang, whose Malaysian triumph was his third Asian Tour success but first in eight years.
The American-Korean had opened his campaign with a disappointing 74 in Malaysia and joked that he “cried like a little girl” in his hotel room before bouncing back with a vengeance to top the field which included Kim.
“The last three rounds in the Malaysian Open was probably the best golf in my life so far. I'm not making too many mistakes. I'm holing a lot of putts, so it feels great to be on the golf course right now,” said the 36-year-old.
Fujita, winner of the Pine Valley Beijing Open last year, sank five birdies against a lone bogey to stay hot on the leaders’ heels. “It was good to maintain my form after yesterday’s good start. The greens are getting firmer and I’m sure they will place some tight pins at the weekend which will make putting more difficult,” he said.
The crusty greens at The Vines frustrated Mardan, with two three-putts spoiling his card which included three other birdies. “From tee to green, it was good. I made a couple of three putts but apart from that, it was nice. I was happy to birdie the last hole to get closer the leaders,” said the Singaporean, a two-time winner in Asia.
“I’m happy with how I’m playing. I’m striking it well and hopefully I can keep playing well over the last two days. I’ll just focus on my own game. I can’t control what the others are doing.”
Kim, one of the hottest young properties in world golf after two victories on the US PGA Tour last season, was excited to be in the title hunt after a disappointing showing in Malaysia.
“It was a good couple days, but I'm still making some careless mistakes,” said Kim. “I think I'm just starting to knock the rust off my game, so happy to have a shot going into the weekend and hopefully my game will keep improving.”
Kim does not know Kang although they share a few things in common with their Korean origin and also the same ‘AK’ initials.

“He's obviously playing the best out of the Anthonys, so not much to say about it. I don't know much about Anthony, but I know obviously he can play, and he's playing great right now,” said the 23-year-old Kim.
Blyth was the third-round leader in Malaysia but failed to maintain his push for a career breakthrough in Asia, finishing 10th. But two straight 68s at The Vines have given him the chance to set the record straight.
“It was a great result and I’ve got the confidence into this week. When I’m ready to win, it will just happen. I probably pushed it too hard during the final round. I was patient enough but I was trying really hard,” said Blyth.
Pilkadaris was delighted to have his wife Monique, who gave birth to their second child in November, back as his caddie. He is desperate to end a four-year winless run and a 66 vaulted him onto the leaderboard.
“It’s like getting back to the old days. I’ve got Monique back and pulling the strings. And she’s telling me where to go and most of the time, I listen. She’s the boss and she’s very rarely wrong. I’ve had a lot of success when she’s been on the bag,” he said.
The halfway cut was set at three-under-par 141, with 71 players making the weekend rounds.

SCOTSWATCH:
There will be two Aberdonians in action over the weekend - Michael Sim, who emigrated to Perth, Western Australia with his family from the Granite City when he was seven years old, and Richie Ramsay. Both were ranked No 1 in world men's amateur golf during their unpaid days.

Sim is on 138, Ramsay on 141. Other Scots to qualify were Colin Montgomerie on 137 and Andrew Coltart on 141.

SECOND-ROUND TOTALS
Par 144 (2 x 72)
134 Anthony Kang (USA) 67 67, Damien McGrane 66 68.

135 Ignacio Garrido (Spa) 67 68, Hiroyuki Fujita (Jap) 67 68, Danny Lee (NZ) (am) 67 68.
136 Robert Jan Derksen (Ned) 64 72, Andrew Dodt (Aus) 70 66, John Bickerton 66 70, Terry Pilkadaris (Aus) 70 66, Felipe Aguilar (Chi) 68 68, Anthony Kim (USA) 68 68, Andre Stolz (Aus) 69 67, Adam Blyth (Aus) 68 68, Mardan Mamat (Sin) 65 71.
137 Chris Gaunt (Aus) 68 69, Colin Montgomerie 67 70, Peter Senior (Aus) 70 67, David Frost (Rsa) 73 64, Graeme Storm 73 64, Tony Carolan (Aus) 65 72, Alexander Noren (Swe) 68 69, Ian Poulter 68 69, Mikko Ilonen (Fin) 72 65, Ross McGowan 70 67 , Seve Benson 70 67, Pelle Edberg (Swe) 70 67, Peter Lawrie 67 70.

138 Gary Lockerbie 69 69, Magnus A Carlsson (Swe) 71 67, Michael Sim 69 69, Taichiro Kiyota (Jpn) 68 70, Gareth Maybin 68 70, Raphael Jacquelin (Fra) 70 68, David Howell 70 68, Philip Price 68 70, Clint Rice (Aus) 67 71, Markus Brier (Aus) 70 68.
139 Scott Laycock (Aus) 68 71, Francesco Molinari (Ita) 68 71, Nick Dougherty 73 66, Paul Casey 71 68, Richard Finch 69 70, Niclas Fasth (Swe) 70 69, Michael Jonzon (Swe) 71 68, Brad Kennedy (Aus) 71 68, Hyung-sung Kim (Kor) 68 71, Lee Westwood 66 73, Peter Hedblom (Swe) 73 66.
140 Anthony Wall 70 70, Scott Hend (Aus) 68 72, Darren Beck (Aus) 70 70, Benn Barham 68 72, Sang-moon Bae (Kor) 70 70, Alistair Presnell (Aus) 72 68, Craig Parry (Aus) 71 69, James Kamte (Rsa) 73 67
141 Richie Ramsay 68 73, Robert Dinwiddie 71 70, Marcel Siem (Ger) 72 69, Andrew Coltart 72 69, Tim Wood (Aus) 69 72, Simon Khan 68 73, Jose Manuel Lara (Spa) 71 70, Brett Rumford (Aus) 71 70, David McKenzie (Aus) 68 73, Marcus Fraser (Aus) 70 71, Peter O'Malley (Aus) 73 68, Anton Haig (Rsa) 69 72, David Smail (NZ) 70 71, Won Joon Lee (Aus) 71 70, Michael Long (NZ) 74 67.

MISSED THE CUT
142 Bryan Saltus (USA) 71 71, Michael Lorenzo-Vera (Fra) 71 71, Seung-yul Noh (Kor) 68 74, Michael McGrath (Aus) 73 69, Johan Edfors (Swe) 70 72, Stuart Bouvier (Aus) 69 73, Robert Rock 71 71, Stephen Dartnell (Aus) 71 71, Sam Little 69 73, Stephen Leaney (Aus) 70 72, Michael McGrath (Aus) 73 69, Mads Vibe Hastrup (Den) 73 69, Adam Crawford (Aus) 72 70, Jean Knutzon (USA) 72 70.

143 Jean-Baptiste Gonnet (Fra) 71 72, Richie Gallichan (Aus) 69 74, Maarten Lafeber (Ned) 72 71, Andrew Tschudin (Aus) 68 75, Brad Lamb (Aus) 72 71, Artemio-hiromasa Murakami (Phi) 71 72, Angelo Que (Phi) 76 67, Camilo Villegas (Col) 72 71, Miles Tunnicliff 71 72, Ashley Hall (Aus) 71 72, Simon Wakefield 70 73, Tristan Lambert (Aus) 71 72, Tai Hee Lee (Kor) 74 69.

144 Gary Murphy 73 71, Scott Barr (Aus) 71 73, Taco Remkes (Ned) 73 71, Richard Green (Aus) 74 70, Scott Drummond 72 72, Mark Brown (USA) 70 74, Mark Foster 71 73, Cameron Percy (Aus) 71 73, Oliver Fisher 72 72, Ben Leong (Mal) 72 72, Wayne Perske (Aus) 70 74, Jarrod Moseley (Aus) 74 70, Iain Steel (Mal) 70 74, Gregory Bourdy (Fra) 74 70, Pablo Martin (Spa) 73 71
145 Chih-bing Lam (Sin) 69 76, Adam Bland (Aus) 76 69, Phillip Archer 74 71, Wen-chong Liang (Chn) 74 71, Ryan Hammond (Aus) 74 71, Jamie Donaldson 75 70, Paul Sheehan (Aus) 71 74, Matthew Griffin (Aus) 73 72, Craig Scott (Aus) 69 76, Jason Scrivener (Aus) 73 72

146 Aaron Townsend (Aus) 77 69, Rick Kulacz (Aus) 71 75, Scott Strange (Aus) 74 72, Anthony Summers (Aus) 72 74, Ryan Haller (Aus) 74 72, Wade Ormsby (Aus) 71 75, Greg Norman (Aus) 75 71, Kane Webber (USA) 72 74, Josh Geary (NZ) 75 71, Peter Wilson (Aus) 78 68.

147 Marcus Both (Aus) 70 77, David Gleeson (Aus) 75 72, Matthew Millar (Aus) 73 74, Alastair Forsyth 71 76, Anthony Brown (Aus) 77 70, Rhys Davies 77 70
148 Shiv Kapur (Ind) 78 70, Terry Price (Aus) 80 68, Gavin Flint (Aus) 73 75, Simon Griffiths 73 75, Marc Warren 71 77, Jean-Francois Lucin (Fra) 72 75.
149 Steven Bowditch (Aus) 76 73
150 Steve Webster 73 77, Peter Fowler (Aus) 77 73.
151 Jason King (Aus) 77 74, Heath Reed (Aus) 75 76
152 Chris Rodgers 77 75
153 Chris Downes (Aus) 74 79, Steve Jones (USA) 77 76
156 Ewan Porter (Aus) 77 79, Paul Broadhurst 75 81
160 Michael Moore (Aus) 78 82