Terblanche fire himself into contention
TAWAU, Sabah (Agencies): Defending champion Des Terblanche of South Africa, reveling playing in the Sabah sunshine once again, moved into the second round lead in the Sabah Masters at Shan- Shui Golf and Country Club yesterday.
The 32-year-old fired a six-under-par 66 in the Omega Tour event to lead on eight-under-par 136 by two strokes from Scotland's Simon Yates, in with a 71. American Andrew Pitts is a stroke behind Yates in third after carding a 69.
Terblanche did not put a foot wrong over the 7,257 yard layout yesterday, firing three birdies on each side. His birdies on the inward half came on 12, 13 and 14.
The giant Springbok's delight was in stark contrast to that of first round leader Australian Adrian Percey, who was disqualified late Thursday night after he realized he had made an unintentional rule infringement.
The 26-year-old was stripped of his course record six-under- par 66 after it transpired he had unknowingly taken an illegal buggy ride from the fifth green to the sixth tee.
Percey only discovered that he had broken a local rule well after he had completed his round. While having dinner with some of his fellow competitors at the tournament hotel he learned of his mistake and immediately called Ocampo.
Percey's rule infringement would normally incur a two-stroke penalty but as he had already signed his scorecard Ocampo was left with no option other than to disqualify the Australian.
In Tano, Japan, Japanese pro golfers Shingo Katayama and Masakazu Noritake shared a two-stroke lead at 11-under-par 133 yesterday in the 100 million yen (US$690,000) Sanko Grand Summer championship.
The 25-year old Katayama, seeking his first title on the Japan PGA tour, shot seven birdies and one bogey for a 6-under-par 66 on the 7,066-yard, par-72 Sanko 72 Country Club course.
Noritake, 33, also seeking a first PGA tour title, walked off with five birdies and a single bogey for a 4-under-par 68.
Close behind was Hirofumi Miyase with 135 in second place and Hsieh Chin-sheng of Taiwan with a third place 136.
Leading scores
Sabah Masters: 136 - Des Terblanche (Rsa) 70-66 138 - Simon Yates (Sco) 67-71) 139 - Andrew Pitts (USA) 70-69 140 - Choi Kyung-ju (Kor) 70-70, Chris Williams (Gbr) 69-71, Park No-seok (Kor) 69-71, Lu Chien-Soon (Tpe) 67-73 141 - Bjorn Flygare (Swe) 69-72 142 - Nico Van Rensburg (Rsa) 73-69, Carlos Espinosa (Mex) 72-70, Peter Teravainen (USA) 70-72 143 - Leith Wastle (Aus) 73-70, Eric Meeks (USA) 72-71, Peter Fowler (Aus) 71-72, Mo Joong-kyung (Kor) 69-74 144 - Arjun Atwal (Ind) 73-71, Scott Taylor (USA) 72-72, Jerry Smith (USA) 70-74
Sanko Grand Summer (Japanese unless stated): 133 - Shingo Katayama 67-66, Masakazu Noritake 65-68 135 - Hirofumi Miyase 66-69 136 - Hsieh Chin-sheng (Tpe) 69-67 137 - Kiyoshi Maita 72-65, Shigemasa Higaki 68-69, Katsumasa Miyamoto 67-70, Nobumitsu Yuhara 64-73 138 - Carlos Franco (Par) 72-66, Yasuharu Imano 71-67, Kazuhiko Hosokawa 70-68, Tatsuo Takasaki 70-68, Hiroshi Tominaga 70-68, Saburo Fujiki 69-69, Tsukasa Watanabe 69-69, Hideki Kase 68-70, Masayoshi Yamazoe 68-70, Shoichi Kuwabara 66-72 140 - Steve Conran (Aus) 71-69, Frankie Minoza (Phi) 70-70 141 - David Smail (Nzl) 71-70, Kim Jong-duck (Kor) 67-74