South Korean Choi charges into Omega PGA C'ship lead

By Bobby Allan Wilson

HONG KONG (JP): South Korean muscleman Choi Kyung-ju made the most of calm conditions in the early morning to fire his second successive five-under-par 65 to take the lead after the second round of the US$500,000 Omega PGA Championship at Clearwater Bay Golf and Country Club.

The highly regarded 27-year-old, who finished number one on the Korean PGA Tour for the past two years, leads, on 10 under par, by five strokes from Hong Kong's Dominique Boulet, Myanmar's Zaw Moe, Scotland's Kenny Walker, Singapore's Dino Kwek and Taiwan's Lu Wen-teh.

In what is the final strokeplay event on the 1997 Omega Tour, Choi started the day a stroke behind first round leader and close friend Park No-seok but took charge by firing seven birdies and two bogies.

Park, who represented Korea with Choi in this year's Alfred Dunhill Cup and World Cup, fell off the pace with a two-over-par 72 to lie at four under for the tournament.

Choi's round, in chilly weather which saw winds strengthen in the afternoon, was highlighted by a brilliant front nine of four- under-par 31 with birdies on one, two, seven and nine. His birdie on the tough 210-yard par three first resulted from a chip in from five yards off the green.

"I was really concentrating," said Choi, who trained as a powerlifter as a teenager. "I was unlucky with some bad lies but I played very well. On the greens I felt like I could hole anything."

The Korean continued to charge up the leaderboard with birdies on 10, 11 and 14 before the wheels came off with disappointing dropped shots on 15 and 18, both par fives.

His six on the last was the most disappointing as he was short of the green in two. He chipped up to the pin, which was on the back plateau, but watched as his ball rolled back down to the front of the green. Facing a difficult 40 foot putt he three putted after his first putt finished eight feet short.

"My poor finish reminded me of the Dubai Creek Open last year,"added Choi, who was leading by three strokes after three rounds in Dubai but struggled on the final day finishing tied for fourth.

"Everything was going well and then suddenly things started to go very wrong. It was just like Dubai I couldn't do anything to stop the dropped shots. I was pleased to finish."

Choi is hungry for a maiden win on the Omega Tour having enjoyed an outstanding season in Korea. He won three times in the space of five weeks on home soil in the Fantom Open, the Korean PGA Championship and the Pocari Open.

Boulet moved into contention after carding a one-under-par 69, while Moe winner of this year's SingTel Ericsson Singapore Open. Lu, Walker and Kwek returned 69, 71, 67 and 69 respectively.

American Mike Cunning put his Omega Order of Merit title chances in jeopardy after missing the cut for the first time in the Omega Tour's three-year history.

Cunning, leader of the Omega Order of Merit on $170,619, fired a four-over-par 74 to finish on four-over-par 144, missing the cut by one. Of the players who could catch him by winning the $80,750 first place cheque, Canadian Jim Rutledge is best placed.

Rutledge, 10th on the list with winnings of $90,898, is two under for the tournament after carding a two-under-par 68. "I wasn't worried about the money list title," said Cunning. "I hit a couple of bad shots and lost my head for about 45 minutes."

India's Jeev Milkha Singh, two over for the tournament, and Americans Ted Purdy and Gerry Norquist, both one under, can also overtake Cunning if they win.

Results: 130 - Choi Kyung-ju (Kor) 65 65 135 - Kenny Walker (Sco) 68 67, Dominique Boulet (Hkg) 66 69, Zaw Moe (Mya) 66 69, Dino Kwek (Sin) 66 69, Lu Wen-Teh (Tpe) 64 71 136 - Park No-seok (Kor) 64 72 137 - Greg Hanrahan (USA) 68 69, Jyoti Randhawa (Ind) 68 69, Choi Gwang-soo (Kor) 66 71 138 - Jim Rutledge (Can) 70 68, Kwon Young-suk (Kor) 68 70, Craig Kamps (Rsa) 67 71, Dan Bateman (USA) 67 71, Arjun Singh (Ind) 67 71, Lai Ying-Juh (Tpe) 67 71, Chen Liang-Hsi (Tpe) 66 72, Leith Wastle (Aus) 64 74 139 - Brad Andrews (Aus) 72 67, Aaron Meeks (USA) 71 68, Gerry Norquist (USA) 71 68, Carlos Espinosa (Mex) 70 69, Samson Gimson (Sin) 70 69, Rodrigo Cuello (Phi) 70 69, Chris Williams (Gbr) 68 71, Ted Purdy (USA) 67 72 140 - Kim Young-il (Kor) 71 69, Kim Tae-hoon (Kor) 71 69, Paul Friedlander (Swi) 71 69, Arjun Atwal (Ind) 70 70