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