Lee Westwood sharing third place in 

Maybank Championship

  NEWS RELEASE

Kuala Lumpur: Thai teenager Phachara Khongwatmai charged into contention at the halfway stage of the US$3 million Maybank Championship after shooting a sparkling seven-under-par 65 on Friday.

 

The 18-year-old, whose name Phachara means ‘diamond’ in Thai, marked his card with seven birdies as he shared the lead with Italy’s Nino Bertasio (65) on 11-under-par 133 on a low scoring day at the Saujana Golf and Country Club.

 

A red-hot Lee Westwood of England fired 11 birdies against one bogey for a stunning 62 to lie a shot back in third place alongside Japanese star Yuta Ikeda (64), Marc Warren (66) and overnight leader Chris Paisley (69) at the event sanctioned by the Asian Tour and European Tour.

 

The sweet-swinging Phachara posted two birdies in his outward nine and enjoyed a superb run when he made five straight birdies from the 11^th hole thanks to a hot putter. He was joined by Bertasio, who was in the last group of the day, at the top of the leaderboard when the Italian returned with eight birdies against one blemish.

 

Westwood continued his affinity with Asia where he has won nine times including the Malaysian Open in 1997 at Saujana. He is in position again to win at the course where he was a former touring professional from 1996 to 1999. 

 

Ikeda, the world number 43, fired eight birdies to stay in the hunt to secure a first victory outside of Japan where he has won 19 times.

 

The halfway cut was set at four-under-par 140 with a total of 81 players making the weekend rounds.

  

Player Interviews:

 

Phachara Khongwatmai (Tha) – Second Round 65 (-7), Total 133 (-11)

 

I’m very happy with my score. My plan is to shoot under-par every day and play against the course. I don’t want to think ahead or compare my score to another player. It is only two rounds so the tournament is not over yet. I want to focus day by day and hole by hole.

 

I learnt a lot at the EurAsia Cup. My partner Hideto Tanihara taught me a lot and he calmed me down because I was very nervous.

 

It has been a long time since I’ve been bogey-free. I putted very well because I didn’t hit the ball close to the hole. Overall putting was the key. Honestly I didn’t realise I had five birdies in a row. I was just focussed on each hole.

 

Nino Bertasio (Ita) Second Round 65 (-7), Total 133 (-11)

 

It was very easy to be honest. I’ve been playing the par fives so a couple of birdies here and there, on the par fours and par threes and here I am at 11 under. It is actually quite easy to make bogeys here. The greens are quite tricky, and I think I only missed three greens, so I made it quite easy to be honest. I have been having fun on the golf course and playing well, so I’m looking forward to it.

 

Lee Westwood (Eng) – Second Round 65 (-7), Total 134 (-10)

 

I played alright the first three weeks of the year, I mean I missed the first two cuts but I sort of got in my own way mentally, not sure the reason for that but today I just freewheeled really and had fun out there.

 

Until the eighth hole, my 17th, I hadn’t holed anything over five feet. Tee to green it was brilliant, one bogey and 11 birdies, and now in contention.

 

It was enjoyable, there were a lot of birdies going in out there. It’s nice to be in contention and to know this golf course well. I won the Malaysian Open here 21 years ago now, and I’ve won this tournament and was touring pro for this course, so I’ve probably played it more than most and I know where to hit it.

 

I hit it close a lot and it was a pretty pain-free round. Gave myself a lot of birdie chances, so it was a really good ball striking round and I holed out well as well. I was pleased with the way today went and hopefully we can build on that more.

 

Leading scores after round 2 

par 144 (2x72). Length 7,135yd

133 - Phachara KHONGWATMAI (Thailand) 68-65, Nino BERTASIO (Italy) 68-65.

134 - Lee WESTWOOD (ENG) 72-62, Yuta IKEDA (JPN) 70-64, Marc WARREN (SCO) 68-66, Chris PAISLEY (ENG) 65-69.

135 - Stephen GALLACHER (SCO) 70-65, Daisuke KATAOKA (JPN) 68-67, Hideto TANIHARA (JPN) 71-64, Dylan FRITTELLI (SAf) 69-66, David Spn) 69-66.

136 - Andrew DODT (Australia) 71-65, David HORSEY (ENG) 66-70, Ryan FOX (NZ) 68-68, Danthai BOONMA (THA) 70-66, Robert KARLSSON (SWE) 68-68, Thomas DETRY (Belgium) 68-68, Thomas BJORN (Denmark) 68-68, Thongchai JAIDEE (THA) 69-67, Prayad MARKSAENG (THA) 71-65, Soren KJELDSEN (DEN) 69-67, Soomin LEE (SKOR) 67-69.

137 - Alexander LEVY (FRA) 67-70, Gavin GREEN (Malaysia) 68-69, Fabrizio ZANOTTI (Paraguay) 68-69, Mike LORENZO-VERA (FRA) 66-71, Andy SULLIVAN (ENG) 71-66, Khalin JOSHI (India) 67-70, Scott JAMIESON (SCO) 68-69, CHAN Shih-chang (Taipei) 68-69, Matthieu PAVON (FRA) 70-67, Shiv KAPUR (India) 70-67, Antonio LASCUNA (Philippines) 69-68, Berry HENSON (USA) 69-68.
138 S Yates (Sco) 72 66, A Atwal (Ind) 67 71, J Randhawa (Ind) 67 71, P Pittayarat (Tha) 72 66, M Tran (Vietnam) 73 65, M Manassero (Ita) 70 68, J Smith (Eng) 70 68, E Pepperell (Eng) 69 69, J Colomo (Esp) 71 67, C Hanson (Eng) 68 70, A Johnston (Eng) 67 71, Y Miyazato (Jpn) 71 67, J Pagunsan (Phi) 68 70, A Nazrin (Mas) 70 68
139 M Southgate (Eng) 73 66, P Peterson (USA) 69 70, G Bhullar (Ind) 68 71, S Sharma (Ind) 70 69, J Janewattananond (Tha) 68 71, H Stenson (Swe) 72 67, B Hebert (Fra) 69 70, B Leong (Mas) 69 70, S Vincent (Zim) 71 68, K Horne (RSA) 71 68, R Ramsay (Sco) 71 68, K Aphibarnrat (Tha) 69 70
140 C Pigem (Spn) 69 71, G Storm (Eng) 72 68, J Wang (SKor) 70 70, A Otaegui (Spn) 69 71, R Wannasrichan (Tha) 70 70, N Fung (Mas) 71 69, D Clarke (Nir) 72 68, P Larrazábal (Spn) 70 70, R Ishikawa (Jpn) 74 66, P Meesawat (Tha) 74 66, J Luiten (Netherlands) 72 68, S Kim (USA) 71 69, T Wiratchant (Tha) 70 70, J Norris (Australia) 71 69, S Chawrasia (India) 69 71, D Im (USA) 69 71, R Wattel (Fra) 67 73, M Siem (Ger) 69 71, A Connelly (Canada) 71 69
MISSED CUT 
141 H Porteous (SAf) 70 71, S Hend (Aus) 75 66, M Tabuena (Phi) 69 72, A Da Silva (Bra) 69 72, H Chien-Yao (Tpe) 70 71, J Veerman (USA) 71 70, J Scrivener (Aus) 71 70, N Srithong (Tha) 74 67, J Todd (USA) 72 69, L Bjerregaard (Den) 72 69, B Xiao (Chn) 68 73,
142 B Wiesberger (Austria) 71 71, T Olesen (Den) 73 69, T Kaewsiribandit (Tha) 68 74, Y Song (SKor) 73 69, A Vongvanij (Tha) 72 70, G Bourdy (Fra) 69 73, L Wenchong (Chn) 70 72, B Stone (SAf) 72 70, L Slattery (Eng) 72 70, M Shin (USA) 71 71, C O'Toole (USA) 70 72, A Björk (Swe) 71 71, P Saksansin (Tha) 74 68,
143 J Kruger (SAf) 71 72, D Burmester (SAf) 72 71, M Wafiyuddin (Malyasia) 69 74, L Wei-Chih (Tpe) 70 73, S Othman (Mas) 74 69, Q Quek (Sin) 73 70, A Quiros (Esp) 73 70, T Pilkadaris (Aus) 72 71, M Fraser (Aus) 72 71,
144 D Chia (Mas) 73 71, J Higginbottom (Aus) 75 69, R Paratore (Ita) 72 72, R Rock (Eng) 72 72, S Norris (RSA) 72 72, R Hie (Ina) 75 69, T Sinnott (Aus) 70 74, C S (Ind) 74 70, D Willett (Eng) 74 70, R Khan (Ind) 72 72,
145 P Waring (Eng) 73 72, P Tangkamolprasert (Tha) 72 73, N Elvira (Esp) 73 72, R Lee (Can) 74 71, A Sandhu (Ind) 74 71, J Lagergren (Swe) 73 72, A Irawan (Malayasia) 73 72, L Haotong (Chn) 74 71
146 E Molinari (Ita) 73 73, N Lin (Mya) 74 72, S Brazel (Australia) 70 76, R Gangjee (Ind) 73 73, O Fisher (Eng) 73 73, A Que (Phi) 73 73,
147 J Quiban (Phi) 71 76, C Kumar (Ind) 75 72, M Wallace (Eng) 74 73, M Sasidaran (Mas) 72 75, S Rahman (Ban) 71 76, L Yuxin (Chn) 72 75
148 K Baharin (Mas) 71 77, R Nachimuthu (Malayasia) 73 75, Y Chang (SKor) 75 73,
149 G Kim (SKor) 73 76
151 A Zahari (Malayasia) 76 75, L Weber (Fra) 75 76, G Green (am) (Mas) 79 72 
152 K Kheng Hwai (Malayasia) 75 77
153 S Ariffin (Mas) 75 78, W Ormsby (Australia) 78 75
** S Yongcharoenchai (Tha) 78 retired, J Elson (Eng) retired