Australian Percey takes lead in Sabah Masters

TAWAU, Sabah (Agencies): Australian Adrian Percey fired an eagle and four birdies for a six-under-par 66 to take the first round lead in the Sabah Masters at Shan-Shui Golf and Country Club yesterday.

In what is the first visit of the year by the Asian PGA's Omega Tour to Malaysia, Percey leads by a stroke from Thailand- based Scotsman Simon Yates and Taiwan's Lu Chien-soon who returned 67s.

For the past 18 months, Percey, has been sponsored by an Australian, Peter Cantwell, who owns a beach resort in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, and today benefited from his sponsor's knowledge of the Shan-Shui layout.

On the 535-yard par-five 13th Percey, made an eagle three, after remembering Cantwell's advice to always go for the green in two on the hole.

"Peter told me not to hold back on number 13. It is reachable. I had a slightly uphill lie with my second. It was about 205 yards and I hit my three iron to 15 feet and sank the putt," said 26-year-old Percey.

Percey is looking for his second win on the Omega Tour after having recorded the biggest victory of his career last year when he won the Dubai Creek Open.

Percey's round set a new course record over Shan-Shui's 7,257 yard layout which, opened just nine months ago, has received outstanding reviews by the players.

Yates, who in between events on the Omega Tour lives in Hua Hin, Thailand, has been practising his wedge play for the past two months during the Tour's summer break and was rewarded with two chip-ins today.

He holed out from off the green for a two on the par-three third and made another birdie on number 12 where he holed an L- wedge from 10 yards.

American Gerry Norquist, a three-time winner on the Omega Tour, fired a 68 and lies fourth with Korea's Bong Tae-ha and Japan's Shoichi Kita.

Yuhara

In Tano, Japan, Japanese veteran pro Nobumitsu Yuhara shot an 8-under-par 64 yesterday and took a one-stroke first-round lead in the 100 million yen (US$690,000) Sanko Grand Summer championship.

The 40-year-old Yuhara, seeking his seventh title on the Japan PGA tour, shot six birdies and one eagle on the 7,066-yard, par- 72 Sanko 72 Country Club course.

At 65 was Masakazu Noritake, still seeking his first victory in eight years as a pro.

Defending champion Shoichi Kuwabara shot a 66 and was tied for third with Hirofumi Miyase.

Kim Jong-duck of South Korea shot a 67 and was tied for fifth with three Japanese - Katsumasa Miyamoto, Shingo Katayama and Nobuo Serizawa.

Results

Sabah Masters: 66 - Adrian Percey (Aus) 67 - Simon Yates (Sco), Lu Chien-Soon (Tpe) 68 - Gerry Norquist (USA), Bong Tae-ha (Kor), Shoichi Kita (Jpn) 69 - Bjorn Flygare (Swe), Chris Williams (Gbr), Mo Joong-kyung (Kor), Park No-seok (Kor), Gilberto Morales (Ven) 70 - Jerry Smith (USA), Des Terblanche (Rsa), Peter Teravainen (USA), Andrew Pitts (USA), Muhammed Munir (Pak), Choi Kyung- ju (Kor), Jamnian Chitprasong (Tha), Lu Wei-Lan (Tpe) 71 - Tsai Chi-Huang (Tpe), Thaworn Wiratchant (Tha), Eric Rustand (USA), Prayad Marksaeng (Tha), Peter Fowler (Aus), Grant Dodd (Aus) 72 - Masashige Shinoda (Jpn), Danny Zarate (Phi), Carlos Espinosa (Mex), Hideki Sugimoto (Jpn), Imdad Hussain (Pak)

Sanko Grand Summer (Japanese unless stated): 64 - Nobumitsu Yuhara 33-31 65 - Masakazu Noritake 33-32 66 - Shoichi Kuwabara 34-32, Hirofumi Miyase 32-34 67 - Katsumasa Miyamoto 33-34, Kim Jong-duck (Kor) 35-32, Shingo Katayama 36-31, Nobuo Serizawa 35-32 68 - Shigemasa Higaki 32-36, Hideki Kase 34-34, Ryoken Kawagishi 34-34, Takeshi Sakiyama 34-34, Masayoshi Yamazoe 34-34, Kazuo Kaneyama 36-32, Joji Furuki 35-33