Malaysian Rashid Ismail extends West Java Open 2002 lead

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Malaysian M. Rashid Ismail, a regular on the Indonesian golfing scene, continued to widen his lead the Rp 200 million (US$22,222) West Java Open golf tournament at the Satelindo Golf Club in Bogor, 60 kilometers south of Jakarta, on Thursday.

Ismail, leading five other Malaysians, has been in the lead since the opening round of the tournament on Tuesday. He closed the day with a marvelous, course-record 11-under 205 (67, 73, 65).

On Tuesday, he broke the course record for the first time, carding 67 (35 32) but bettered it by two on Thursday when he finished the third round with a 7-under 65 (32 33).

Tied in second place were Dana Mahmud from Jakarta with 1 over 217 (71 76 70) and South Korean amateur golfer Cho Min (75 72 70). Ismail's countryman P. Gunasagaran was in fourth place with a 3-over 219 (73 75 71).

Ismail, Dana and Cho were scheduled to tee off at 7 a.m. during Friday's final round in a field of 33 players including two amateurs, Cho Min and Indonesian Yudiansyah.

Yudiansyah stole the show on Thursday when he fired a hole-in- one on the par-3 fourth.

Ismail, the champion in the Bukit Darmo Open in Surabaya, East Java, last April, and the other Malaysians are among the foreigners who have been undisturbed by the Oct. 12 bombing in Bali and have continued with their trip in Indonesia.

"Before we departed Kuala Lumpur for Jakarta, I was fully confident that Indonesia, despite the Bali bombings, was still a safe place to visit and play golf," the Kuala Lumpur resident said on Thursday.

The other four Malaysians are Gunasagaran, S. Moorthy, M. Sasidaran and Airil Rizman.