Percey leads assault on Dubai in golf Open
By Bobby Allan Wilson
DUBAI, UAE (JP): Australia's Adrian Percey led an assault on the Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club yesterday, firing a six under par 66 for a two-shot lead over compatriot Scott Laycock and South Africa's Des Terblanche after the third round of the Omega Tour's US$250,000 Dubai Creek Open.
The 25-year-old from Adelaide hit seven birdies and a solitary bogey, touring the front nine with a magnificent 31, while Des Terblanche set a new course record with a stunning, bogey-free 64.
Laycock, runner-up in last week's ABN-AMRO Pakistan Masters, moved into joint second place after playing the 6,789-yard layout with a bogey-free 68.
"The key for me today was my putting on the front nine, where everything I aimed for seemed to go in," said Percey, winner of the 1997 Volvo Open in Shenzhen, China. "Unfortunately, I started to get a bit nervous when I went to six under after my birdie on the 14th. I was looking at the leaderboard a little too much and trying to protect my score, which is why I failed to take advantage of good birdie chances on the last three holes."
With conditions over the Creek layout unusually calm, Percey was one of seven players to card 66 or lower in the third round.
"I'm actually hoping the wind picks up again tomorrow - the course is pretty defenseless when there's no breeze and there's every chance of someone shooting seven or eight under to win," added Percey, who also finished runner-up in the 1997 Volvo China Open.
"But if the wind blows then I think if I shoot three or four under I'll be in with a good chance of winning.
"I'm in a similar zone to the one I was in when I won in China earlier this year, and although it's the first time I've been in this position on the Omega Tour, I'm enjoying being here."
One player Percey will be looking out for tomorrow is the big- hitting Des Terblanche, who was in magnificent form on his way to breaking the two-year-old course record. The 31 year old from Vryburg, South Africa, fired an eagle and six birdies to overtake John Kernohan's course best, going out in a stunning 30 and coming in with a 34.
"I've had 64's before, but this was probably my lowest round in at least a year," said Terblanche, winner of the 1997 Sabah Masters.
"I putted real well and had a great feel for the speed of the greens, which are in magnificent shape - I didn't have to putt over one spike mark all day, and if you're putting well this takes the pressure off the rest of your game."
Scott Laycock, meanwhile, continued his impressive run of form with four birdies in a faultless 68. The 26-year-old Australian has recorded only two bogeys in 54 holes of golf this week, reflecting the consistency he showed in the ABN-AMRO Pakistan Masters when he dropped only three shots in the entire tournament.
Pakistan's Imdad Hussain fired the day's second lowest, a seven-under 65, to move into joint fourth position with overnight leader Dominique Boulet of Hong Kong, South Africa's Craig Kamps and first round leader Ted Purdy of the USA. Boulet remains in contention following a one-under-par 71, while Kamps and Purdy returned a pair of 68's.
Results 203 - Adrian Percey (Aus) 69 68 66 205 - Des Terblanche (Rsa) 69 72 64, Scott Laycock (Aus) 70 67
68 206 - Imdad Hussain (Pak) 69 72 65, Craig Kamps (Rsa) 69 69 68,
Ted Purdy (USA) 66 72 68, Dominique Boulet (Hkg) 67 68 71 207 - Kwon Young-suk (Kor) 72 69 66 208 - Kenny Walker (Sco) 72 71 65, Charlie Wi (Kor) 69 70 69 209 - Chawalit Plaphol (Tha) 72 71 66, Paul Foley (Aus) 72 69
68, Boonchu Ruangkit (Tha) 70 67 72 211 - Ramon Brobio (Phi) 73 70 68, Grant Dodd (Aus) 73 69 69,
Thammanoon Sriroj (Tha) 71 70 70, Chang Tse-Peng (Tpe)
70 70 71, Gaurav Ghei (Ind) 69 71 71 212 - Lu Wen-Teh (Tpe) 69 75 68, Nico Van Rensburg (Rsa) 70 71
71 213 - Eric Meeks (USA) 77 70 66, Ho Chung-Yuan (Tpe) 74 73
66, Kang Wook-soon (Kor) 76 69 68, Vivek Bhandari (Ind)
74 71 68, Aaron Meeks (USA) 73 71 69, Clay Devers (USA)
73 71 69, Kim Young-il (Kor) 69 73 71, Brad Andrews (Aus)
69 73 71, Peter Fowler (Aus) 71 71 71, Glenn Joyner (Aus)
71 70 72, Arjun Singh 68 73 72