Yeh leaves rivals at Royal Perak Classic

Yeh leaves rivals at Royal Perak Classic

IPOH, Malaysia (AFP): Taiwan's Yeh Chang-ming hit a superb
bogey-free 64 to open up a four stroke lead after the second
round of the Asian PGA Tour Royal Perak Classic here yesterday.

Yeh, 11 under par overall after a 69 in the first round, fired
four birdies either side of the turn. Four strokes behind are
Singapore's Madasamy Murugiah and Stephen Scahill of New Zealand,
who posted 68 and 69 respectively at the 6,798 yard Royal Perak
Golf Club.

"My approach shots went very well today and gave me plenty of
opportunites to make birdies," said 33-year-old Yeh, ranked 22nd
in the Taiwan PGA Order of Merit.

"I hit the ball to within six or seven feet of the flag on
quite a few of the greens, and although I didn't sink any long
putts my putting was very reliable and enabled me to take all the
chances I made."

Yeh sank birdie putts after getting within three feet of the
pin at the first, seven feet at the 4th, three feet at the 5th,
and he hit a wedge shot just one foot from the flag at the 7th.

Yeh continued his pin-point accuracy with a 40 yard wedge to
four feet from the hole for a birdie at the 10th. He chipped-in
from off the green at the 15th, and hit a wedge and a six iron to
three feet for birdies at the 16th and 17th.

"I only needed 20 putts all day, which is good indication of
how well my approach shots worked," added Yeh.

Murugiah, who entered at the last minute after struggling with
a hamstring injury, hit four birdies during his bogey-free round,
while Scahill fired four birdies and a bogey.

"To be honest my only aim this week was to get through four
rounds of golf. I wasn't expecting to do well, and maybe this has
taken some of the pressure off and allowed me to relax and go for
my shots," said Murugiah.

Taiwan's Lin Keng-chi, a three time winner on the Tour,
continued his stunning run of form to card the second lowest
score of the day with a six under par 66. He lies joint fourth
with Derek Fung of Hong Kong on six under par.

Lin, current leader of the Asian PGA Tour Order of Merit, hit
six birdies and no bogeys. Fung, 11th last week in the Samsung
Masters in Korea, hit an eagle, four birdies and three bogeys to
match his first round 69.

Tour Championship

In Tulsa, Oklahoma, Billy Mayfair carded a two-under-par 68
here Thursday to take a one-shot lead after the first round of
the US$3 million Tour Championship, which decides the 1995 PGA
money title.

Mayfair overcame strong winds sweeping the Southern Hills
Country Club course to nab four birdies against two bogeys, the
second of which came on the 18th hole.

He was one stroke clear of Brad Bryant, Payne Stewart and
Fiji's Vijay Singh.

"I didn't have many long putts to save par today," Mayfair
said. "This course just wears you down. The wind was really
blowing strong, as well."

Justin Leonard and Bob Tway were two shots adrift after level
70s.

The elite field comprises the top 30 money winners of 1995,
from number one Greg Norman with $1.56 million in earnings to
Nick Price in 30th place with $563,700.

Price's winnings were just $19 dollars ahead of number 31 Jeff
Sluman, who was bumped out of this event last week when he missed
the cut at the Texas Open. Price was tied for second to last
Thursday with a 7-over 77.

Selected results

Asian PGA Tour
133 - Yeh Chang-ming (Tpe) 69-64
137 - Stephen Scahill (Nzl) 68-69, M Murugiah (Sin) 69-68
138 - Lin Keng-chi (Tpe) 72-66, Derek Fung (Hkg) 69-69
139 - Zaw Moe (Bma) 69-70, Jeff Senior (Aus) 69-70
140 - David Hill (Aus) 68-72, Greg Hanrahan (USA) 69-71, Rafael
Ponce (Ecu) 70-70
141 - Dino Kwek Beng Kwee (Sin) 67-74, Eddie Bagtas (Phi) 68-73,
Gerry Norquist (USA) 71-70, Aaron Meeks (USA) 71-70
142 - Merciano Pucay (Phi) 68-74, Mohd Khalid Yusof (Sin) 69-73,
Kenny Walker (Sco) 73-69, Prayad Marksaeng (Thai) 74-68,
Craig Kamps (RSA) 74-68, Simon Yates (Sco) 72-70

US$2 million Philip Morris (Japanese unless stated):
136 - Masashi Ozaki 67 69
138 - Nobumitsu Yuhara 69 69
139 - Jim Furyk (U.S.) 70 69, Ikuo Shirahama 69 70, Naomichi
Ozaki 69 70
140 - David Ishii (U.S.) 69-71, Hidemichi Tanaka 67 73
141 - Brian Watts (U.S.) 71 70, Stewart Ginn (Aus) 69 72
143 - Andrew Magee (U.S.) 69 74
144 - Chen Tze-chung (Tai) 72 72
146 - Frankie Minoza (Phi) 73 73
147 - Lin Chie-hsiang (Tai) 75 72

Tour Championship (USA unless stated):
68 - Billy Mayfair
69 - Brad Bryant, Payne Stewart, Vijay Singh (Fij)
70 - Justin Leonard, Bob Tway
71 - Tom Lehman, Mark O'Meara, Scott Simpson, Woody Austin,
Ernie Els (Rsa), Steve Elkington (Aus)
72 - Mark Calcavecchia, Corey Pavin, Greg Norman (Aus)
73 - Loren Roberts, Peter Jacobsen
74 - Jim Gallagher Jnr, Fred Funk, David Duval, Ben Crenshaw,
Davis Love
75 - Lee Janzen, Jay Haas, Scott Hoch
76 - Nick Faldo (Gbr), Kenny Perry
77 - Nick Price (Zim), Kirk Triplett
79 - Phil Mickelson