Parry and Purdy share lead at open
JAKARTA (JP): Tournament favorite Craig Parry of Australia and American pro rookie Theodore Purdy shared an opening-round lead in the Satelindo Indonesia Open yesterday with 5-under par 67.
Parry, who said he would play carefully and defensively after he lost six balls in a pro-am tournament on the course at the Jagorawi Golf and Country Club on Wednesday, proved his word by firing six brilliant birdies against a bogey yesterday.
"It was a good round in those conditions. The course was very damp which made it impossible to get out of the thick rough," the 31-year-old Parry said.
Parry began the round with a birdie before bogeying the 3rd to go out for 35 with two more birdies on the 6th and 9th. Homeward bound, he birdied the 10th, 11th 16th and 17th for 32.
Purdy, who fired three straight birdies from the 15th onwards, said he was pleased with his round yesterday.
"I holed a 15-footer for a birdie on 16, two putted the par five next from 40 feet and tapped in for birdie on 17," he said.
Purdy is on a roll on the Omega Tour, having finished third in the London Myanmar Open in March and joint fifth in last week's DFS Galleria Guam Open.
Bunched two shots behind them on 69 are Malaysia's S. Murty, New Zealand's Simon Owen, Japan's Nozomi Kawahara and South Africans Nico van Rensburg and Des Terblanche.
American Mark Calvecchia, the big-name player in the tournament, carded a two-under par 70 in the first round to tie for eighth place with six other players.
"I am nicely placed," Calcavecchia said. "I played pretty well but the weather is still just too humid for me."
The US$275,000 Satelindo Indonesia Open near Bogor is part of the Asian PGA's 25-leg Omega tour.
Past winners of the Open include Surabaya's Kasiyadi in 1989, New Zealander Frank Nobilo in 1994, Frankie Minoza of the Philippines in 1986 and American Payne Stewart in 1996.
Kasiyadi was the only local golfer to close the round with 1- under 71. He was happy with the result.
"I think it is good enough to make it one under, although I did try my best to make it lower," Kasiyadi told The Jakarta Post.
He said he would do much better in the next rounds while trying to recapture the title. "I understand it will be very hard to win the title but I'll try." (rsl)
Selected results: 67 - Craig Parry (Aus) 35 32; Theodore Purdy (USA) 34 33 69 - S Murthy (Mas) 35 34; Simon Owen (Nzl) 32 37; Nozomi Kawahara (Jpn) 35 34; Des Terbalanche (Rsa) 35 34; Nico van Renseberg (Rsa) 34 35 70 - Wayne Bradley (Rsa) 34 36; Paul Foley (Aus) 34 36; Charlie Wie (Kor) 33 37; Mark Calcavecchia (USA) 35 35; John Senden (Aus) 34 36; Jerry Smith (USA) 33 37 71 - Kasiyadi (Ina) 35 36; Grant Dodd (Aus) 35 36; Jeff Senior (Aus) 36 35; Gerry Norquist (USA) 35 36; Brand King (Aus) 35 36; Aaron Meek (USA) 37 34; Preecha Senaprom (Tha) 35 36; Stephen Atako-Lindskog (Swe) 35 36; 72 - Lee Peters (UAE) 36 36; Stuart Bouvier (Aus) 35 37; Brad Andrews (Aus) 34 38; Clay Devers (USA) 36 36; Jorrod Moseley (Aus) 36 36; John Wither 36 36; Poh Eng Ching (Sin) 36 36; Mo Joong-kyung (Kor) 36 36; Hendrik Buhrmann (Rsa) 35 37; Mardan Mamat (Sin) 36 36; Craig Kamps (Rsa) 37 36; Akimori Tani (Jpn) 37 35; Rob Willis (Aus) 36 36; Scot Laycock (Aus) 36 36; Vivek Bhandari (Ind) 37 35;