MANLEY LEADS AFTER THREE ROUNDS OF HONG KONG OPEN
REPORT FROM EUROPEAN TOUR COMMUNICATIONS
Stuart
Manley put himself in pole position to win his first European Tour
title with a classy four under par 66 in the third round of the Hong
Kong Open.
At
ten under par, the Welshman leads by one shot from Indian Shiv Kapur
and Australian Wade Ormsby, with Spaniards José Manuel Lara and Miguel
Angel Jiménez, the defending champion, lurking at eight under alongside
England’s Steve Webster.
Manley
has had an eventful few weeks since earning his European Tour card at
the Qualifying School Final Stage, hitting the headlines at the ISPS
Handa World Cup of Golf in Australia when he had a hole-in-one followed
immediately by an
11.
Despite
feeling a little fatigued from all the long-distance travel – he played
last week in South Africa, too – the 34 year old is excited about what
lies in store in Sunday’s final round at Hong Kong Golf Club.
“Pretty
much from the first hole onwards, every iron shot was right down the
pin,” said Manley, who reached the turn in two under par and added three
more birdies against one bogey on the back nine.
“If
it had been a good day on the greens it could have been a really low
round, so it was disappointing not to capitalise, but I feel very
confident the way I'm playing and I’m really excited about tomorrow.
“I was really unlucky on the 16th,
when I landed the ball in the perfect position but it hit the sprinkler
and went to the back of the green. That was disappointing, but I was
pleased to get back to ten under with a birdie at
the 17th.
“I
wanted to be leading after three rounds, and I wanted to be in the last
group, so I'm delighted. There’s a lot of golf left, but winning would
mean the world.”
Jiménez, Kapur and Ormsby all birdied the tricky par four 18th
to limit Manley’s advantage, but it was a day to forget for second
round leader Jbe Kruger, who struggled to a three over par 73.
Jiménez
became the oldest winner in European Tour history when he triumphed
here last year, and he added: “I hope I can keep hitting the ball the
way I'm hitting it and knock in some putts to get the victory here, I
would love it. I love
this golf course.”
THIRD ROUND SCORES:
Par 210 (3x70)
200 S Manley (Wal) 67 67 66
201 S Kapur (Ind) 69 66 66, W Ormsby (Aus) 67 68 66
202 J Lara (Esp) 69 68 65, M Jiménez (Esp) 70 67 65, S Webster (Eng) 71 66 65
203 P Meesawat (Tha) 66 70 67, A Cejka (Ger) 68 67 68, J Sjöholm (Swe) 68 70 65
204 U Park (Aus) 71 66 67, J Makitalo (Fin) 67 71 66, A Que (Phi) 69 67 68, R Derksen (Ned) 69 67 68, D Lipsky (USA) 69 68 67
205
R Finch (Eng) 70 67 68, D Kataoka (Jpn) 68 68 69, J Randhawa (Ind) 72
67 66, O Fisher (Eng) 68 70 67, A Lahiri (Ind) 68 70 67, A Pavan (Ita)
65 72 68
206
G Havret (Fra) 71 70 65, N Elvira (Esp) 67 72 67, E Kofstad (Nor) 68
68 70, J Carlsson (Swe) 70 70 66, J Colomo (Esp) 72 66 68, B Ruangkit
(Tha) 69 67 70, R Kakko (Fin) 71 66 69, J Kruger (RSA) 67 66 73
207 J Morrison (Eng) 71 67 69, P
Pittayarat (Tha) 69 70 68, S Chowrasia (Ind) 68 69 70, J Campillo (Esp)
73 65 69, H Rai (Ind) 72 67 68, S Benson (Eng) 66 72 69, C Phadungsil
(Tha) 68 71 68
208
A Dodt (Aus) 66 70 72, A Da Silva (Bra) 71 70 67, B Paolini (USA) 70 68
70, K Gi-Whan (Kor) 70 69 69, D Im (USA) 71 66 71, C Plaphol (Tha) 69
70 69
209
H Wen-Yi (Chn) 72 69 68, A Byeong-Hun (Kor) 69 69 71, D Higgins (Irl)
64 74 71, R Karlberg (Swe) 69 68 72, M Fraser (Aus) 68 69 72, C Doak
(Sco) 68 68 73, E Molinari (Ita) 72 69 68, A Wall (Eng) 71 70 68
210
R Cabrera-Bello (Esp) 70 71 69, T Olesen (Den) 69 71 70, C Lam (Sin) 66
72 72, J Knutzon (USA) 70 71 69, L Bjerregaard (Den) 70 67 73
211
T Chuayprakong (Tha) 69 72 70, S Henry (Sco) 68 72 71, A Lascuna (Phi)
72 69 70, L Sung (Kor) 70 70 71, P Junhasavasdikul (Tha) 73 68 70, J
Hahn (USA) 70 68 73, D Drysdale (Sco) 72 68 71, A Sullivan (Eng) 70 71
70, L Wei-Chih (Tpe)
69 72 70, A Forsyth (Sco) 68 72 71, C Paisley (Eng) 71 70 70
212 S Singh (Ind) 66 73 73, C Nirat (Tha) 71 70 71, A Levy (Fra) 70 70 72
213 T Tang (Hkg) 71 70 72, L Wen-Tang (Tpe) 74 64 75
214 J Pagunsan (Phi) 71 70 73, G Stal (Fra) 70 71 73
215 S Hend (Aus) 70 70 75
216 M Joong-Kyung (SKor) 70 70 76
217 D Brooks (Eng) 69 71 77
Labels: EUROPEAN TOUR
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