Aussie regains lead at Indonesia Open
Aussie regains lead at Indonesia Open
JAKARTA (JP): Australia's Don Fardon regained the lead he lost to American Hale Irwin on Wednesday. He came out as the sole leader by a stroke going into the final round of the Sampoerna Indonesia Open yesterday, after scoring a total of 8-under par- 208.
One stroke behind for a shared second spot were American Gary Web, winner of the 1993 tournament in Bali, Jose Cantero of Argentina and Singapore's young star Mardan Mamat, who relinquished his amateur status in October after the Hiroshima Asian Games.
Mardan played a pivotal role in winning the prestigious men's Putra Cup amateur tournament in Hong Kong in 1993. However, he failed to help Singapore defend the title the following year, which was won by host Indonesia at the plush Bumi Serpong Damai course.
Defending champion Frank Nobilo of New Zealand was placed third, together with South African Roger Wessels, each with a 210. Nobilo carded a 68 (32 36), the same score he produced on Thursday.
"Everybody has an equal chance of winning the title if he plays well." Nobilo said.
The battle for the top spot in today's final of the US$250,000 event at the Pantai Indah Kapuk will reach its height at 10.30 a.m. when the field of 73 pros enter the second nine.
While Webb was successful in regaining the title he lost to Nobilo, advancing from fifth place after Thursday's round to second, Irwin was downgraded from the top spot to sharing the fifth at 212 (70 68 74) with three other players.
"I just played the ball right, made good putts and most of all perfect weather helped me better my score," an elated Webb told the Jakarta Post.
If he plays better today, he believes he can regain the title.
The sole Indonesian golfer surviving the cut off on Thursday was Kasyadi, placed way below the leader board with a three-day total of 218 (72 73 73).
The Surabaya-based Kasiyadi rewrote golf history in Indonesia when he became the first local golfer to ever win the Indonesia Open title in 1987.
The Indonesia Open is the sixth of the scheduled 12 on the 1995 Asian Tour. After Jakarta, the tour will move to Bali for the Sempati Bali Open, slated for March 23 to 26 at the Bali Golf and Country Club.
The richest cash prize, the Dunlop Open, will be played in Ibraki, Japan, and has prize money totaling US$1,000,000.
Selected results 208 - Don Fardon (Aus) 68 70 70 209 - Gary Webb (USA) 69 74 66
Jose Cantero (Arg) 69 71 69
Mardan Mamat (Sin) 71 69 69 210 - Frank Nobilo (Nzl) 74 68 68
Roger Wessels (RSA) 68 72 70 211 - Todd Hamilton (USA) 70 71 70 212 - Gustavo Rojas (Arg) 69 72 71
Dustin Phillips (USA) 70 71 71
Gary Simpson (Aus) 69 71 72
Hale Irwin (USA) 70 68 74 213 - Raul Fretes (Par) 71 73 69
Andrew Bonhomme (Aus) 73 69 71
Eric Meeks (USA) 72 69 72
Kevin Wentworth (USA) 72 69 72
Craig McClellan (USA) 70 70 73 214 - Blair Philip (Can) 76 71 67
Johan Tumba (Swe) 76 71 67
Bob May (USA) 73 72 69
Jim Rutledge (Can) 71 72 71
David Podlich (Aus) 69 73 72
Danny Ellis (USA) 70 70 74