Kang leads Indonesia Ladies Open

JAKARTA (JP): Kang Soo-yun of South Korea slipped to first place on the second day of the Indonesia Ladies Open at the Senayan Golf Club here on Thursday.

Kang is on 136 (72-64), four under par after birdying on holes 3, 5, 6, 10, 11, 14 and 16. On Wednesday she only managed to be in ninth place, scoring 72 (36-36).

Kang played impressively on Thursday, hitting most of the fairways.

"I want to win this tournament and the Order of Merit listing," Kang said.

The tournament runs until Feb. 4 and offers a total cash prize of U$75,000 (Rp 547.5 million). About 120 golfers, both amateur and professional from 20 countries, are participating in the tournament.

Most of the golfers come from Indonesia, but the United States, Europe, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan are also represented.

Indonesia is represented by top amateur golfers from various regions in the country.

The Indonesia Ladies Open is included in the Kosaido Ladies Golf Circuit which has held 14 tournaments since 1987. Taiwan and Malaysia conduct similar tournaments with Taiwan's being held from Jan. 20 to Jan. 22 and Malaysia's from Feb. 10 to Feb. 12.

Thailand also will host a tournament from Feb. 10 to Feb. 12 with $100,000 in prize money.

Wei Jun Jye of Taiwan won the Taiwan Open and Kang won the Malaysian Open.

Meanwhile, Nam Jung-sok, also from South Korea, who led the first day on Wednesday slipped to eighth place with a score of 144 (69-75).

Top seeded Pernilla Sterner of Sweden, who won the tournament in 1997 at Pondok Cabe, had to be satisfied with 146 (77-69).

Of the 120 golfers, 60 have qualified for the final round on Friday. (lnt)

Results: 136 - Kang-Soo-yun (Kor) 72-64; 142 - Aideen Rogers (Ire) 71-71, Caroline Hall (Gbr) 71-71, Michele Fuller (USA) 70- 72; 144 - Smriti Mehra (Ind) 72-72, Shiho Oyama (Jpn) 71-73, Loraine Lambert (Aus) 70-74, Nam Jung-sok (Kor) 69-75; 145 - Wendy Ducks (Gbr) 74-71, Mie Nakata (Jpn) 71-74; 146 - Pernilla Sterner (Swe) 77-69, Lisa Hed (Swe) 76-70, Yumi Wakabayashi (Jpn) 74-72, Mary-Grace Estuesta (Phi) 73-73; 147 - Julie Forbes (Sco) 77-70, Keiko Arakaki (Jpn) 74-73, Alison Munt (Aus) 73-74; 148 - Cecilie Lundgreen (Nor) 76-72, Kozue Azuma (Jpn) 76-72, Tai Yu Chuan (Tpe) 76-72, Etsuko Kawakami (Jpn) 74-74, Ana Berg (Swe) 73-75, Ludivine Kreutz (Fra) 73-75