Campbell takes over lead in Alfred Dunhill Master
Campbell takes over lead in Alfred Dunhill Master
JAKARTA (JP): A two stroke penalty did not impose any danger to William Campbell's battle to take over the lead after three rounds of the Alfred Dunhill Master golf championship with a sizzling 14-under par-202 yesterday.
New Zealand's Campbell was penalized by two strokes under Rule 13-4b for "touching sand in bunker during backswing" at the 209- yard, par three fourth hole.
Campbell's 4-under par-68 yesterday gave him a 54-hole total of 202 and one-shot advantage over Craig Parry of Australia, who was the sole lead overnight.
Yesterday was the big day for local golfers as Budiono headed Indonesia's five (not four as reported on Friday) survivors to go onto the third round.
The stocky Bali-based Budiono was bunched in the joint 22nd place with eight players including world top golfer Vijay Singh of Fiji who finished the round with 5-under par-211.
Indonesia fields six seasoned golfers in the event, with only one missing the cut at 144 on Thursday when Sumarno, who played in the 1983 World Cup, was forced to stop from further contention for carding a 147.
The other four local players are Burhan Bora who was at 215 together with Ilyasyak and Kasiyadi and Maan Naasim who carded a poor 3-over par-219.
Although Campbell was not aware that his club made contact with the sand, he accepted the word of playing partner Greg Chalmers and Parry's brother-caddie Glenn as they made their way down to the fifth fairway.
Said Campbell: "The rules are black and white. If you touch the sand in a bunker then it's a two-shot penalty. I accepted it but was mad at myself after that."
The 26-year-old Maori, who trailed Parry by three strokes overnight, put the fourth-hole "disaster" behind him to storm home in 6-under 30 after firing five blistering birdies. It was the best second nine of the week, and displaced the Australian from the top of the leaderboard.
"I didn't feel anything (sand) at all. It was their word against mine. But these guys are very honest and I'm glad they told me about it straight away," said Campbell, who blasted out of the greenside trap and two-putted. With the two penalty strokes he ran up at the ninth to turn in 2-over 38.
Parry said he had not seen the incident at the fourth hole. "As Mike was preparing his shot I could see he was getting close to the sand and I turned away, remembering what happened last year," said Parry, recalling an incident in last year's inaugural Alfred Dunhill Masters in Bali that led to the disqualification of runaway leader Nick Faldo.
Television evidence confirmed that the rising star clipped the sand during his backswing.
While attention focused on Campbell and Parry, five other players remained very much in contention for the first prize of $72,000, the biggest cash on offer in the history of golf in Indonesia.
Going into the final round, Australian Gavin Coles and Sweden's Mathias Gronberg are tied of third place on 205 after rounds of 67 and 69 respectively.
A further stroke back in joints fifth are Australian David Podlich and Welshman Mark Mouland with Ian Woosnam alone in seventh place on 207 after a 68 which included a solitary bogey at the 18th.
The best round of the day was posted by Australian Anthony Painter whose 6-under par-66 hoisted him into a share of eighth place with seven other players on 209. (rsl)