Lee Westwood leads by five after inward 29
Jakarta: Lee Westwood’s superb ability of staying patient
was rewarded when he stormed ahead to snatch the third round lead with on Saturday.
The
former world number one cut a frustrated figure in his front-nine but
an astonishing back-nine 29 saw Westwood compile a three-day total of
eight-under-par 208 to
establish a five-shot lead going into the final round at the Royale
Jakarta Golf Club.
Thailand’s
Namchok Tantipokhakul carded a 71 to tie for second with Denmark’s
Thomas Bjorn and South Korea’s Y.E. Yang on matching 213 total at the
US$750,000 Asian Tour event.
It
was a tale of two different nines for Westwood, the double CIMB Niaga
Indonesian Masters champion, who had started the day in seventh place.
The Englishman turned in 36 after mixing one birdie and one bogey.
However a stunning eagle-three on 12 lifted the world number 33 to the top of the leaderboard.
“I
was struggling for a bit of momentum around the front-nine as I found
it hard to read the greens. That eagle from about 25 ft really got me
going and I went on to
birdie the next five holes,” said Westwood.
Five
successive birdies from 13 then saw him sprint away from the chasing
pack, giving him a commanding advantage before the final round beckons.
“Nobody
was really doing anything around the front-nine. I was sort of plodding
along and even-par till 11 and only two behind then. But I managed to
have a good run
after that and stamp a bit of authority when nobody was doing it,” said
Westwood.
With a hat-trick of titles in sight, Westwood is determined to make his visit to Jakarta another enjoyable one.
“I’ve
been here twice and I won both times so I like to keep that going. I’ve
never been beaten before so I’m going in with a big chance tomorrow,”
said Westwood.
Despite Westwood’s healthy lead, Bjorn believes he still has a chance to dent the Englishman’s title aspirations.
“I
haven’t been playing particularly well. But I managed to scramble my
way around. It’s very much in his hands but I’ll still give a go and see
how it goes.
“I got to putt well and shoot really low tomorrow as I can’t let anything slip early,” said the Dane.
Namchok is also determined to stop Westwood in his tracks by going on a birdie sprint early.
“I’ve
got to start applying the pressure early and see how it goes. There’s
still a chance and I’m going to do my best and try to make a charge
early tomorrow,” said
the Thai.
THIRD-ROUND LEADERS
Par 216 (3x72) Yardage 7,340
208 - Lee WESTWOOD (ENG) 69-74-65.
213 - Y.E. YANG (KOR) 73-71-69, Thomas BJORN (DEN) 66-76-71, Namchok TANTIPOKHAKUL (THA) 69-73-71.
214 - Kalle SAMOOJA (FIN) 69-76-69.
215
- Thitiphun CHUAYPRAKONG (THA) 71-77-67, Khalin JOSHI (IND) 71-76-68,
Bryce EASTON (RSA) 73-77-65, Kalem RICHARDSON (AUS) 75-70-70, Jeunghun
WANG (KOR) 74-71-70,
Yosuke TSUKADA (JPN) 71-71-73, Chapchai NIRAT (THA) 68-74-73, CHAN
Shih-chang (TPE) 66-75-74.
216
- Raphael DE SOUSA (SUI) 72-76-68, Danny CHIA (MAS) 74-74-68, Lionel
WEBER (FRA) 73-74-69, Berry HENSON (USA) 75-72-69, LEE Chieh-po (TPE)
71-75-70, Paul SPARGO
(AUS) 70-74-72, Unho PARK (AUS) 67-73-76.
217 - Rashid KHAN (IND) 69-79-69, Keith HORNE (RSA) 74-73-70, Prayad MARKSAENG (THA) 73-72-72, Paul PETERSON (USA) 71-73-73.
Labels: ASIAN TOUR
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