Australian Parry extends lead at Satelindo Open

Australian Parry extends lead at Satelindo Open

JAKARTA (JP): Australian Craig Parry extended his lead
yesterday to two strokes despite a personal worst on the course
with a 2-under par 70 at the half-way point of the Satelindo
Indonesia Open.

Behind the leader at 139 are South African Des Terbalanche and
Nozomi Kawahara of Japan.

Terbalanche, playing his first Omega Tour, and Kawahara both
made 2-under 70s yesterday.

Many complained that the weather affected their performances,
but Parry said it was negligible.

"The New Course is the most difficult golf layout I have ever
encountered," Parry said.

"I think my best strategy is to keep the ball in the rough and
play safely," he said, adding that lots of practice was the only
way that golfers could improve their game.

He said, "There was only myself who made a round of practice
for more than two hours (after playing badly in Wednesday's pro-
am). And by doing so it helped me to play much better on the
opening round on Thursday."

A series of bad drives and poor putts yesterday gave him a 2-
over 38 in the first nine holes: bogeys on the par-3 2nd, par-3
5th and par-4 9th and only a birdie on the 1st.

"I should have finished 12 or 13 under," said Parry,
nicknamed "Popeye" for his large forearms. "I played well in
patches today but really awful in others."

On his way back to the club house, the stocky Australian
roared home with four birdies on the 10th, 12th, 16th and 17th
for a fine 4-under 32 on the last nine, making a 7-under par 137
after two rounds.

"I am very unhappy with the way I finished, it's left a sour
taste," said Parry. "The wind was a bit stronger today and it was
very hot but the only thing I can blame is myself. I had really
wanted to play every round this week under 70 but failed to
achieve that today," Parry said.

Theodore Purdy of the U.S., who shared the lead in the opening
round, was relegated to joint third with Australian's Paul Foley
and Jeff Senior at 141.

American Gerry Norquist, who won last week's DFS Galleria Guam
Open on the Omega Tour, lies fourth with 4-under after making a
joint best-of-the-day 3-under 69.

Top American player Mark Calcavecchia shares 10th place with a
1-over par 73.

The cut was set at 7-over par 151, letting 69 players through
to compete this weekend.

The Indonesia Open 1997 is part of the Asian PGA's Omega tour,
and is played at the 72-par Jagorawi course near Bogor.

The Open was first played in 1974 in Tutungan, North Sumatra.
Past winners included Britain's Edward Fryatt in 1996, New
Zealander Frank Nobilo in 1994 in Pantai Indah Kapuk and Frankie
Minoza of the Philippines in 1986. Kasiyadi was the first ever
local winner when he in 1989 won the annual event played at the
Jakarta Golf Club in East Jakarta.

It's awful for Kasiyadi as he missed the cut after finishing a
poor 76 for a two-day total of 147. And Maan Naasim, one of the
country's best hopes survived the cut and became the sole local
player to have the chance to vye the US$275,000 cash prize. (rsl)

Selected results

137 - Craig Parry (Aus) 67 70
139 - Nozomi Kawahara (Jpn) 69 70; Des Terblanche (Rsa) 69 70
140 - Gerry Norquist (USA) 71 69
141 - Jeff Senior (Aus) 71 70; Paul Foley (Aus) 70 71; Theodore
Purdy (USA) 67 74
142 - John Senden (Aus) 70 72; Chalie Wi (Kor) 70 72
143 - Kenny Walker (Sco) 74 69; Mark Calcavecchia (USA) 70 73
144 - Ajay Gupta (Ind) 74 70; Poh Eng Ching (Sin) 72 72; Mo Joong
kyung (Kor) 72 72; Brad King (Aus) 71 73; Jerry Smith (USA)
70 74; S. Murthy (Mal) 69 75;
145 - Lucas Parson (Aus) 73 72; Vivek Bhandari (Ind) 72 73;
Hendrik Buhrmann (Rsa) 72 73; Grant Dodd (Aus) 71 74; Simon
Owen (Nzl) 69 76
146 - Taro Kinoshita (Jpn) 75 71; Takeshi Ohyama (Jpn) 75 71;
Maan Naasim (Ina) 73 73; Arjun Singh (Ind) 73 73; Clay
Devers (USA) 72 74; Brad Andrews (USA) 72 74; Mardan Mamat
(Sin) 72 74)