MARUYAMON POISED TO WIN ASIA-PACIFIC PANASONIC OPEN
NEWS RELEASE ISSUED BY THE ASIAN TOURShiga Prefecture, Japan. Japan’s Daisuke Maruyama fired a three-under-par 68 to stand on the brink of winning his second Asia-Pacific Panasonic Open title on Saturday.
Maruyama, who won the title in 2009, posted a three-day total of eight-under-par 205 to take a single shot lead over S.K. Ho of Korea who struggled with a 73 for a share of second place alongside Japan’s Michio Matsumura on 206.
South Africa’s Jbe Kruger carded a 72 for fourth place while Hiroyuki Fujita of Japan signed for a 70 to lie one back in fifth place at the ¥150,000,000 (approximately US$1.7 million) event jointly sanctioned by the Asian Tour and Japan Golf Tour.
Maruyama, who started the day in equal fourth, dropped his first shot on his opening par-four first.
He quickly responded with birdies on the second and fifth hole before another bogey on the seventh hole set him back to even-par for his outward-nine.
The 40-year-old then charged back into contention by posting birdies on holes 10, 13 and 16 after the turn.
“I was trying to find my rhythm in the front-nine and thought that I could reach the turn in under-par as I wanted to keep the pressure on the leaders then,” said Maruyama.
“But my round really came to life in my back-nine where I was really feeling confident. I’m not going to think so much about my lead tomorrow. Instead I’m going to focus on what I’ve done today and hopefully I’ll win,” added the Japanese.
Overnight leader Ho was disappointed that he could not extend his lead after marking his card with four bogeys against two birdies.
Ho turned in 36 after two bogeys and a birdie. While he posted another birdie on the 10th hole, two more bogeys on the 14th and 16th holes caused him to lose his grip on his lead.
“I just couldn’t find my form today. I made several bad drives and they were very costly. Hopefully I can play better tomorrow,” said Ho.
Meanwhile Thailand’s Prom Meesawat, who signed for a 70 to be among the five players bunched in equal sixth, believes that he can overcome his four-shot deficit and make a charge for his second Asian Tour title.
“It’s not over. I’ve been talking to my coach and the main thing tomorrow is to stick with my game plan and stay close to the leaders,” said Prom.
Prom endured a topsy-turvy start to his outward-nine with three bogeys against one birdie after the opening six holes.
He managed to turn his game around at the eighth hole where he saved par and then went on to responded with birdies on holes 9, 10, 12, 16 before dropping another shot on the 17th hole.
“The conditions were different from the first two rounds. I had a good start with my birdie on the second hole but I three-putted right after that and made two more bogeys after that,” said Prom.
“I holed a very important putt on the eighth hole and I managed to get my confidence back for my putting. I birdied the ninth and 10th holes and then on 12th and 16th again. It’s amazing and it’s a good round for me,” added the Thai.
LEADING THIRD-ROUND TOTALS
Par 213 (3x71)
205 - Daisuke MARUYAMA (JPN) 67-70-68.
206 - Michio MATSUMURA (JPN) 68-71-67, S.K. HO (KOR) 67-66-73.
207 - Jbe KRUGER (RSA) 64-71-72.
208 - Hiroyuki FUJITA (JPN) 69-69-70.
209 - Chinnarat PHADUNGSIL (THA) 74-69-66, Kenichi KUBOYA (JPN) 67-74-68, Tetsuji HIRATSUKA (JPN) 69-72-68, Jeev Milkha SINGH (IND) 71-68-70, Prom MEESAWAT (THA) 68-71-70.
210 - Anthony KANG (USA) 75-68-67, Brad KENNEDY (AUS) 69-73-68.
211 - Yoshinori FUJIMOTO (am, JPN) 69-72-70, Chawalit PLAPHOL (THA) 71-69-71, Thaworn WIRATCHANT (THA) 71-74-66, Toshinori MUTO (JPN) 68-71-72, KIM Do-hoon 752 (KOR) 69-69-73, BAE Sang-moon (KOR) 67-69-75.
213 - SIDDIKUR (BAN) 73-70-70, Kiradech APHIBARNRAT (THA) 69-71-73.
Maruyama, who won the title in 2009, posted a three-day total of eight-under-par 205 to take a single shot lead over S.K. Ho of Korea who struggled with a 73 for a share of second place alongside Japan’s Michio Matsumura on 206.
South Africa’s Jbe Kruger carded a 72 for fourth place while Hiroyuki Fujita of Japan signed for a 70 to lie one back in fifth place at the ¥150,000,000 (approximately US$1.7 million) event jointly sanctioned by the Asian Tour and Japan Golf Tour.
Maruyama, who started the day in equal fourth, dropped his first shot on his opening par-four first.
He quickly responded with birdies on the second and fifth hole before another bogey on the seventh hole set him back to even-par for his outward-nine.
The 40-year-old then charged back into contention by posting birdies on holes 10, 13 and 16 after the turn.
“I was trying to find my rhythm in the front-nine and thought that I could reach the turn in under-par as I wanted to keep the pressure on the leaders then,” said Maruyama.
“But my round really came to life in my back-nine where I was really feeling confident. I’m not going to think so much about my lead tomorrow. Instead I’m going to focus on what I’ve done today and hopefully I’ll win,” added the Japanese.
Overnight leader Ho was disappointed that he could not extend his lead after marking his card with four bogeys against two birdies.
Ho turned in 36 after two bogeys and a birdie. While he posted another birdie on the 10th hole, two more bogeys on the 14th and 16th holes caused him to lose his grip on his lead.
“I just couldn’t find my form today. I made several bad drives and they were very costly. Hopefully I can play better tomorrow,” said Ho.
Meanwhile Thailand’s Prom Meesawat, who signed for a 70 to be among the five players bunched in equal sixth, believes that he can overcome his four-shot deficit and make a charge for his second Asian Tour title.
“It’s not over. I’ve been talking to my coach and the main thing tomorrow is to stick with my game plan and stay close to the leaders,” said Prom.
Prom endured a topsy-turvy start to his outward-nine with three bogeys against one birdie after the opening six holes.
He managed to turn his game around at the eighth hole where he saved par and then went on to responded with birdies on holes 9, 10, 12, 16 before dropping another shot on the 17th hole.
“The conditions were different from the first two rounds. I had a good start with my birdie on the second hole but I three-putted right after that and made two more bogeys after that,” said Prom.
“I holed a very important putt on the eighth hole and I managed to get my confidence back for my putting. I birdied the ninth and 10th holes and then on 12th and 16th again. It’s amazing and it’s a good round for me,” added the Thai.
LEADING THIRD-ROUND TOTALS
Par 213 (3x71)
205 - Daisuke MARUYAMA (JPN) 67-70-68.
206 - Michio MATSUMURA (JPN) 68-71-67, S.K. HO (KOR) 67-66-73.
207 - Jbe KRUGER (RSA) 64-71-72.
208 - Hiroyuki FUJITA (JPN) 69-69-70.
209 - Chinnarat PHADUNGSIL (THA) 74-69-66, Kenichi KUBOYA (JPN) 67-74-68, Tetsuji HIRATSUKA (JPN) 69-72-68, Jeev Milkha SINGH (IND) 71-68-70, Prom MEESAWAT (THA) 68-71-70.
210 - Anthony KANG (USA) 75-68-67, Brad KENNEDY (AUS) 69-73-68.
211 - Yoshinori FUJIMOTO (am, JPN) 69-72-70, Chawalit PLAPHOL (THA) 71-69-71, Thaworn WIRATCHANT (THA) 71-74-66, Toshinori MUTO (JPN) 68-71-72, KIM Do-hoon 752 (KOR) 69-69-73, BAE Sang-moon (KOR) 67-69-75.
213 - SIDDIKUR (BAN) 73-70-70, Kiradech APHIBARNRAT (THA) 69-71-73.
Labels: ASIAN TOUR
posted by Colin |
See story on its own page | Saturday, September 24, 2011
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home