Press Release
LOCAL HOPE CHIA KEEPS DREAM
ALIVE IN MALAYSIA
Kuala Lumpur, March 7: Local hero Danny Chia produced a barnstorming finish for the joint clubhouse lead in the Maybank Malaysian Open which left him shaken but stirred on Friday.
No Malaysian has won the national championship since its inauguration in 1962 but the 35-year-old Asian Tour regular kept his dream alive with six birdies against a lone bogey at Kota Permai Golf and Country Club.
Chia’s two-day total of 12-under-par 132 was matched by overnight leader Nick Dougherty of England, who completed his round of 70 in near darkness, which included a birdie at the last, following a two-hour suspension due to a lightning storm.
A stroke back was Dane Soren Kjeldsen, who fired a 68 in the US$2 million event sanctioned by the Asian Tour and European Tour while title-holder Peter Hedblom of Sweden and Northern Ireland’s Graeme McDowell, who also carded 68s, were a further shot adrift.
India’s Jyoti Randhawa, who was penalised two strokes for taking a wrong drop on Thursday, was 11-under for the tournament when play was halted at 7.25pm. He was staring at a 10-foot birdie putt at the 17th hole and along with 48 other players, will return tomorrow morning to complete his round.
“I’m shaking!” said Chia. “It’s always been one of my dreams to win the Maybank Malaysian Open. Every year it gets tougher as it is now jointly sanctioned. But it’s made me more excited to see my name on top of the leaderboard.”
After becoming Malaysia’s first winner on the Asian Tour in 2002, Chia’s career never quite took off. He lost his Tour card last season despite finishing tied fifth finish in Cambodia in his final tournament.
Chia subsequently regained his playing rights from Qualifying School and recorded another top-five in last month’s SAIL Open in India which has served to boost his confidence.
“I’m quite happy with the way I was thinking around the golf course. I made some mental errors especially on the par fives (which he was one over par) but I managed to come back and birdie some holes,” said Chia, who is playing on a sponsor’s invite this week.
Sessions with a sports psychologist, whom he started seeing late last year, has taught him to focus better and Chia knows he needs to stay on an even keel to sustain his bold bid for glory. “What we’ve done during the break was to stop letting outside agencies disrupt me, like looking at the leaderboards or letting a bad hole carry on to the next. The pressure may be greater but whenever I made a mistake, I just focussed on my pre-shot routine,” he said.
After a disappointing par at the par-5 seventh hole, his 16th of the day, where he three putted, Chia charged home by converting birdie putts from eight and 12 feet over his closing two holes on his former home club.
“It was nice to shoot those two closing birdies after making a three putt,” said Chia. “I think the first thing that I need to do now is to stop thinking about winning or what position I will finish this week. The best thing for me right now is to go out and do my job and try to do what I’ve done in the last two rounds.”
Dougherty, who fired a sizzling 62 on the opening day, birdied his last hole in the dark to maintain his chase for a third career title. The 25-year-old Englishman endured a frustrating day on the greens, although a last birdie on 18 put a smile on his face.
“I played pretty well to be honest. I didn’t make anything all day. It is ironic really as I didn’t play much different to yesterday. Putted well but didn’t make them so frustrating in that respect,” he said.
“But that birdie (on 18) leaves a sweet taste in your mouth going to bed tonight.”
Randhawa, who is pushing hard to improve on his 72nd position in the world ranking and break into the top-50, was delighted to stay in the title hunt for the third week in a row. “Definitely, especially after what happened yesterday,” said the 2002 Asian Tour number one. “ I played well but got penalised for taking the wrong drop yesterday. I didn’t know I had to take complete relief from the cart path. But I like where I am now and let’s see what I can do.”
Hedblom sparked his round with an eagle on the seventh and enters the third round just two back. “It’s going to be fun. I like the course and I’m playing well. Today I was holing some putts and if I keep it close and putt well it would be a fun weekend,” said the Swede.
SECOND-ROUND TOTALS
Par 144 (2 x 72).
*Play suspended with 49 players to complete the second round on Saturday morning.
132 Nick Dougherty 62 70, Danny Chia (Mal) 65 67
133 Soren Kjeldsen (Den) 65 68
134 Graeme McDowell 66 68, Peter Hedblom (Swe) 66 68
135 Robert Jan Derksen (Ned) 66 69, Carlos Rodiles (Spa) 66 69, Jose Manuel Lara (Spa) 68 67
136 Scott Barr (Aus) 68 68, Lian-Wei Zhang (Chn) 68 68
137 Charl Schwartzel (Rsa) 71 66, Oliver Wilson 66 71, Scott Strange (Aus) 66 71, Darren Clarke 69 68, Mardan Mamat (Sin) 72 65, Raphael Jacquelin (Fra) 68 69, Graeme Storm 69 68, Gary Murphy 70 67, Keith Horne (Rsa) 65 72, Chinarat Phadungsil (Tha) 67 70
138 S Murthy (Mal) 71 67, Zane Scotland (Gbr) 69 69, Gaurav Ghei (Ind) 67 71, David Lynn 70 68, Terry Pilkadaris (Aus) 69 69, Simon Wakefield 69 69, Young-Woo Nam (Kor) 69 69, Arjun Atwal (Ind) 70 68, Gregory Havret (Fra) 70 68
139 Jean Van de Velde (Fra) 71 68, Mark Brown (USA) 66 73, Shiv Shankar Prasad Chowrasia (Ind) 66 73, Mads Vibe-Hastrup (Den) 71 68, Oliver Fisher 68 71, Marcus Both (Aus) 67 72, Iain Steel (Mal) 70 69, Thomas Bjorn (Den) 72 67
140 Simon Yates 69 71, Johan Edfors (Swe) 72 68, Anthony Kang (USA) 70 70, Jose-Filipe Lima (Por) 69 71, Felipe Aguilar (Chi) 70 70, Hendrik Buhrmann (Rsa) 71 69, Artemio-hiromasa Murakami (Phi) 69 71, Angelo Que (Phi) 69 71, Gregory Bourdy (Fra) 70 70, Richard Lee (Nzl) 70 70
PROJECTED CUT FIGURE
141 Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind) 70 71, Jean-Baptiste Gonnet (Fra) 71 70, Henrik Nystrom (Swe) 69 72, Wen-Tang Lin (Tpe) 68 73, Ben Leong (Mal) 74 67, Tony Carolan (Aus) 68 73, Carl Suneson (Spa) 70 71, Sang-moon Bae (Kor) 73 68, David Bransdon (Aus) 73 68, Mark Foster 72 69, Lei Shang (Tpe) 67 74, Thomas Levet (Fra) 71 70
142 Rahil Gangjee (Ind) 70 72, Michael Jonzon (Swe) 73 69, Chapchai Nirat (Tha) 72 70, Emanuele Canonica (Ita) 73 69, Ross Bain 70 72, Adam Groom (Aus) 74 68
143 Frankie Minoza (Phi) 71 72, David Griffiths 70 73, Shiv Kapur (Ind) 74 69, Maarten Lafeber (Ned) 72 71, S.siva Chandhran (Mal) 70 73, Thongchai Jaidee (Tha) 74 69, Alastair Forsyth 72 71, Gavin Flint (Aus) 70 73, Keng-chi Lin (Tpe) 72 71
144 Sung Lee (Kor) 70 74, Stephen Dodd 75 69, Ariel Canete (Arg) 72 72, Paul McGinley 71 73
145 Antonio Lascuna (Phi) 75 70, David Gleeson (Aus) 71 74, David Howell 71 74, Wen-chong Liang (Chn) 73 72, Phillip Archer 75 70
146 Sam Walker 74 72, Unho Park (Aus) 73 73, Pelle Edberg (Swe) 74 72, Rashid Ismail (Mal) 71 75
147 Scott Hend (Aus) 75 72
148 Rick Kulacz (Aus) 78 70, Simon Hurd 74 74
149 Rosli Johari (Mal) 77 72, Simon Griffiths 77 72
150 Clay Devers (USA) 75 75, Chawalit Plaphol (Tha) 76 74
151 Rory McIlroy 75 76, Gerald Rosales (Phi) 76 75, Rhys Davies 77 74
152 Wei Chih Lu (Tha) 71 81, Airil Rizman (Mal) 74 78
153 Akhmal Tarmizee (Mal) 74 79
154 Faridil Atras (Mal) 75 79
157 Edmund Au (Mal) 77 80
Withdrew: Michael Campbell (Nzl), Taichiro Kiyota (Jpn) 70
Retired: Phillip Price 73, Thammanoon Srirot (Tha) 72, Suk Jong-Yul (Kor) 73
ALIVE IN MALAYSIA
Kuala Lumpur, March 7: Local hero Danny Chia produced a barnstorming finish for the joint clubhouse lead in the Maybank Malaysian Open which left him shaken but stirred on Friday.
No Malaysian has won the national championship since its inauguration in 1962 but the 35-year-old Asian Tour regular kept his dream alive with six birdies against a lone bogey at Kota Permai Golf and Country Club.
Chia’s two-day total of 12-under-par 132 was matched by overnight leader Nick Dougherty of England, who completed his round of 70 in near darkness, which included a birdie at the last, following a two-hour suspension due to a lightning storm.
A stroke back was Dane Soren Kjeldsen, who fired a 68 in the US$2 million event sanctioned by the Asian Tour and European Tour while title-holder Peter Hedblom of Sweden and Northern Ireland’s Graeme McDowell, who also carded 68s, were a further shot adrift.
India’s Jyoti Randhawa, who was penalised two strokes for taking a wrong drop on Thursday, was 11-under for the tournament when play was halted at 7.25pm. He was staring at a 10-foot birdie putt at the 17th hole and along with 48 other players, will return tomorrow morning to complete his round.
“I’m shaking!” said Chia. “It’s always been one of my dreams to win the Maybank Malaysian Open. Every year it gets tougher as it is now jointly sanctioned. But it’s made me more excited to see my name on top of the leaderboard.”
After becoming Malaysia’s first winner on the Asian Tour in 2002, Chia’s career never quite took off. He lost his Tour card last season despite finishing tied fifth finish in Cambodia in his final tournament.
Chia subsequently regained his playing rights from Qualifying School and recorded another top-five in last month’s SAIL Open in India which has served to boost his confidence.
“I’m quite happy with the way I was thinking around the golf course. I made some mental errors especially on the par fives (which he was one over par) but I managed to come back and birdie some holes,” said Chia, who is playing on a sponsor’s invite this week.
Sessions with a sports psychologist, whom he started seeing late last year, has taught him to focus better and Chia knows he needs to stay on an even keel to sustain his bold bid for glory. “What we’ve done during the break was to stop letting outside agencies disrupt me, like looking at the leaderboards or letting a bad hole carry on to the next. The pressure may be greater but whenever I made a mistake, I just focussed on my pre-shot routine,” he said.
After a disappointing par at the par-5 seventh hole, his 16th of the day, where he three putted, Chia charged home by converting birdie putts from eight and 12 feet over his closing two holes on his former home club.
“It was nice to shoot those two closing birdies after making a three putt,” said Chia. “I think the first thing that I need to do now is to stop thinking about winning or what position I will finish this week. The best thing for me right now is to go out and do my job and try to do what I’ve done in the last two rounds.”
Dougherty, who fired a sizzling 62 on the opening day, birdied his last hole in the dark to maintain his chase for a third career title. The 25-year-old Englishman endured a frustrating day on the greens, although a last birdie on 18 put a smile on his face.
“I played pretty well to be honest. I didn’t make anything all day. It is ironic really as I didn’t play much different to yesterday. Putted well but didn’t make them so frustrating in that respect,” he said.
“But that birdie (on 18) leaves a sweet taste in your mouth going to bed tonight.”
Randhawa, who is pushing hard to improve on his 72nd position in the world ranking and break into the top-50, was delighted to stay in the title hunt for the third week in a row. “Definitely, especially after what happened yesterday,” said the 2002 Asian Tour number one. “ I played well but got penalised for taking the wrong drop yesterday. I didn’t know I had to take complete relief from the cart path. But I like where I am now and let’s see what I can do.”
Hedblom sparked his round with an eagle on the seventh and enters the third round just two back. “It’s going to be fun. I like the course and I’m playing well. Today I was holing some putts and if I keep it close and putt well it would be a fun weekend,” said the Swede.
SECOND-ROUND TOTALS
Par 144 (2 x 72).
*Play suspended with 49 players to complete the second round on Saturday morning.
132 Nick Dougherty 62 70, Danny Chia (Mal) 65 67
133 Soren Kjeldsen (Den) 65 68
134 Graeme McDowell 66 68, Peter Hedblom (Swe) 66 68
135 Robert Jan Derksen (Ned) 66 69, Carlos Rodiles (Spa) 66 69, Jose Manuel Lara (Spa) 68 67
136 Scott Barr (Aus) 68 68, Lian-Wei Zhang (Chn) 68 68
137 Charl Schwartzel (Rsa) 71 66, Oliver Wilson 66 71, Scott Strange (Aus) 66 71, Darren Clarke 69 68, Mardan Mamat (Sin) 72 65, Raphael Jacquelin (Fra) 68 69, Graeme Storm 69 68, Gary Murphy 70 67, Keith Horne (Rsa) 65 72, Chinarat Phadungsil (Tha) 67 70
138 S Murthy (Mal) 71 67, Zane Scotland (Gbr) 69 69, Gaurav Ghei (Ind) 67 71, David Lynn 70 68, Terry Pilkadaris (Aus) 69 69, Simon Wakefield 69 69, Young-Woo Nam (Kor) 69 69, Arjun Atwal (Ind) 70 68, Gregory Havret (Fra) 70 68
139 Jean Van de Velde (Fra) 71 68, Mark Brown (USA) 66 73, Shiv Shankar Prasad Chowrasia (Ind) 66 73, Mads Vibe-Hastrup (Den) 71 68, Oliver Fisher 68 71, Marcus Both (Aus) 67 72, Iain Steel (Mal) 70 69, Thomas Bjorn (Den) 72 67
140 Simon Yates 69 71, Johan Edfors (Swe) 72 68, Anthony Kang (USA) 70 70, Jose-Filipe Lima (Por) 69 71, Felipe Aguilar (Chi) 70 70, Hendrik Buhrmann (Rsa) 71 69, Artemio-hiromasa Murakami (Phi) 69 71, Angelo Que (Phi) 69 71, Gregory Bourdy (Fra) 70 70, Richard Lee (Nzl) 70 70
PROJECTED CUT FIGURE
141 Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind) 70 71, Jean-Baptiste Gonnet (Fra) 71 70, Henrik Nystrom (Swe) 69 72, Wen-Tang Lin (Tpe) 68 73, Ben Leong (Mal) 74 67, Tony Carolan (Aus) 68 73, Carl Suneson (Spa) 70 71, Sang-moon Bae (Kor) 73 68, David Bransdon (Aus) 73 68, Mark Foster 72 69, Lei Shang (Tpe) 67 74, Thomas Levet (Fra) 71 70
142 Rahil Gangjee (Ind) 70 72, Michael Jonzon (Swe) 73 69, Chapchai Nirat (Tha) 72 70, Emanuele Canonica (Ita) 73 69, Ross Bain 70 72, Adam Groom (Aus) 74 68
143 Frankie Minoza (Phi) 71 72, David Griffiths 70 73, Shiv Kapur (Ind) 74 69, Maarten Lafeber (Ned) 72 71, S.siva Chandhran (Mal) 70 73, Thongchai Jaidee (Tha) 74 69, Alastair Forsyth 72 71, Gavin Flint (Aus) 70 73, Keng-chi Lin (Tpe) 72 71
144 Sung Lee (Kor) 70 74, Stephen Dodd 75 69, Ariel Canete (Arg) 72 72, Paul McGinley 71 73
145 Antonio Lascuna (Phi) 75 70, David Gleeson (Aus) 71 74, David Howell 71 74, Wen-chong Liang (Chn) 73 72, Phillip Archer 75 70
146 Sam Walker 74 72, Unho Park (Aus) 73 73, Pelle Edberg (Swe) 74 72, Rashid Ismail (Mal) 71 75
147 Scott Hend (Aus) 75 72
148 Rick Kulacz (Aus) 78 70, Simon Hurd 74 74
149 Rosli Johari (Mal) 77 72, Simon Griffiths 77 72
150 Clay Devers (USA) 75 75, Chawalit Plaphol (Tha) 76 74
151 Rory McIlroy 75 76, Gerald Rosales (Phi) 76 75, Rhys Davies 77 74
152 Wei Chih Lu (Tha) 71 81, Airil Rizman (Mal) 74 78
153 Akhmal Tarmizee (Mal) 74 79
154 Faridil Atras (Mal) 75 79
157 Edmund Au (Mal) 77 80
Withdrew: Michael Campbell (Nzl), Taichiro Kiyota (Jpn) 70
Retired: Phillip Price 73, Thammanoon Srirot (Tha) 72, Suk Jong-Yul (Kor) 73
Labels: Pro Men
posted by Colin |
See story on its own page | Friday, March 07, 2008
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home