Manila: Chinese Taipei star Lin Wen-tang put himself in position of winning a sixth Asian Tour title for the first time in over three years when he shot a one-over-par 73 in tough scoring conditions at the Solaire Open on Friday.<\/p>\n
Lin was tied with Thai duo Thammanoon Sriroj (69) and Kwanchai Tannin (71) and Australia\u2019s Matt Jager (72) on two-under-par 142 on a blustery day at the challenging Wack Wack Golf and Country Club.<\/p>\n
Talented Korean Kim Gi-whan, Richard T. Lee of Canada, Elmer Salvador of the Philippines and Pawin Ingkhapradit were a further shot back on 143 at the inaugural US$300,000 Asian Tour event.<\/p>\n
The Wack Wack East course bared its fangs on day two as only eight players head into the weekend rounds with under-par scores. Overnight leader Dodge Kemmer of the United States fell victim to the tough conditions when he posted 79 to slip to tied ninth.<\/p>\n
Lin uncharacteristically lost his Asian Tour card last year for the first time since 2003 but looks to be back to his best form after reverting to a new putter. His last victory on the Asian Tour was at the 2009 Taiwan Masters.<\/p>\n
\u201cI struggled with my putting last year and recently changed to a new putter this week. Even though I had two three putts, I still feel very comfortable with the new putter. Everybody knows these greens are very difficult,\u201d said the 39-year-old.<\/p>\n
He spent countless of hours at the gym last year, which did not work in his favour as he struggled to maintain his fluid swing.<\/p>\n
\u201cI went to the gym quite often and my body was feeling sore. There were times when I struggled to swing. I\u2019m getting older and I thought going to the gym would help me get more power. I was wrong! I decided to stop it completely this year,\u201d said Lin.<\/p>\n
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Jager, formerly ranked third in the world as an amateur, recovered from a double bogey at the challenging par three eighth hole, when he sank birdies on holes 12 and 15.<\/p>\n
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\u201cI\u2019m not really surprise to be in contention because people were talking about how difficult this golf course is. You don\u2019t have to do much wrong to get the bogeys,\u201d said the Asian Tour Qualifying School graduate.<\/p>\n
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\u201cThe wind might have changed on us for five or six times. That was the big thing because you always need to check the wind. It is a difficult golf course so with the conditions like that, it plays a little bit harder,\u201d said Jager.<\/p>\n
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Thai veteran Thammanoon, a five-time Asian Tour winner, rolled back the years when he took advantage of the relatively calm conditions in the morning with four birdies against one bogey.<\/p>\n
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\u201cIt is very tough out there but I managed to hold on. I\u2019m happy with how I played after yesterday\u2019s round. It is always easier to play when there\u2019s not so much wind,\u201d said the 43-year-old.<\/p>\n
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Local hope Salvador is on track of making amends for his two play-off defeats in 2011 and 2012 on the Asian Tour when he charged into contention with a battling 69.<\/p>\n
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\u201cIt was a good thing my putting and pitching were okay. The goal for the third round is to make par on every hole. It will be a bonus if I can make a birdie,\u201d said Salvador, who is searching for a first Asian Tour win.<\/p>\n
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The halfway cut was set at seven-over-par 151 with 76 players making the weekend rounds. 2011 Asian Tour Order of Merit winner Juvic Pagunsan had to withdraw from the second round as his wife, who is expected to give birth within a fortnight, was feeling ill.<\/p>\n
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Scores after round 2 of the Solaire Open 2013 being played at the par 72, 7222 Yards Wack Wack GcC course (a- denotes amateur):<\/p>\n
142 – Thammanoon SRIROJ (THA) 73-69, Kwanchai TANNIN (THA) 71-71, Matt JAGER (AUS) 70-72, LIN Wen-tang (TPE) 69-73.<\/p>\n
143 – KIM Gi-whan (KOR) 72-71, Richard T. LEE (CAN) 72-71, Elmer SALVADOR (PHI) 74-69, Pawin INGKHAPRADIT (THA) 68-75.<\/p>\n
144 – Tetsuji HIRATSUKA (JPN) 71-73, Gunn CHAROENKUL (THA) 73-71, Unho PARK (AUS) 73-71, Carl SANTOS-OCAMPO (PHI) 72-72, Panuwat MUENLEK (THA) 74-70, Rahil GANGJEE (IND) 75-69.<\/p>\n
145 – Yoshinobu TSUKADA (JPN) 72-73, Daisuke KATAOKA (JPN) 70-75, Miguel TABUENA (PHI) 73-72, Dodge KEMMER (USA) 66-79, Mars PUCAY (PHI) 69-76, Jake HIGGINBOTTOM (AUS) 74-71.<\/p>\n
146 – HSU Mong-nan (TPE) 74-72, Peter KARMIS (RSA) 73-73, Sattaya SUPUPRAMAI (THA) 75-71, Thanyakon KHRONGPHA (THA) 72-74, Chinnarat PHADUNGSIL (THA) 75-71, Jay BAYRON (PHI) 74-72, Sam CYR (USA) 76-70, CHOO Tze Huang (SIN) 76-70.<\/p>\n
147 – Chawalit PLAPHOL (THA) 72-75, CHAN Yih-shin (TPE) 75-72, Namchok TANTIPOKHAKUL (THA) 74-73, Simon GRIFFITHS (ENG) 72-75, Panuphol PITTAYARAT (THA) 75-72, Abhinav LOHAN (IND) 76-71, Chris RODGERS (ENG) 73-74, Shaaban HUSSIN (MAS) 73-74, Rory HIE (INA) 72-75.<\/p>\n
Johor Bahru: Grant Jackson of England set a new course record at the Johor Country Club with a sizzling eight-under-par 64 to seize the third round lead at the PGM Maybank Johor Masters on Friday.<\/p>\n
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The Englishman established a commanding three-shot lead over Wolmer Murillo of Venezuela with a 16-under-par 200 total at the RM200,000 (approximately US$65,000) Asian Development Tour (ADT) event.<\/p>\n
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Murillo, who was the overnight leader, stayed on track for a first victory in Asia by shooting a 69 while Malaysian rising star Nicholas Fung was a further two shots back on 205 following a 70.<\/p>\n
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Jackson, who finished seventh on the ADT Order of Merit last year, mixed his card with seven birdies and one eagle against one blemish to set the wheels in motion for a first career victory.<\/p>\n
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\u201cI’ve had a nice last few days and the difference today was that I just holed more putts. I put in a new putter in the bag this week and have been working on my putting stroke in Thailand with my coach. It is working as I’m starting to hit putts at the right pace.<\/p>\n
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\u201cI’ll be trying to win tomorrow and just need to keep doing the same things and keep making putts. I’ve played in five events back home and made all top-10s so hopefully I can get it done on Saturday,\u201d said Jackson who lost in a playoff to a Thai amateur at at Thai domestic event two weeks ago.<\/p>\n
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The top three players on the ADT Order of Merit at the end of the season will earn Asian Tour cards for 2014 while all events receive Official World Golf Ranking points from this season onwards.<\/p>\n
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Leading third round scores<\/p>\n
200 – Grant JACKSON (ENG) 68-68-64<\/p>\n
203 – Wolmer MURILLO (VEN) 66-68-69<\/p>\n
205 – Nicholas FUNG (MAS) 66-69-70<\/p>\n
207 – R. Nachimuthu (MAS) 70-69-68<\/p>\n
208 – Airil Rizman ZAHARI (MAS) 71-68-69<\/p>\n
209 – Iain STEEL (MAS) 69-71-69<\/p>\n
210 – Luke BLEUMINK (AUS) 69-71-70<\/p>\n
211 – Rizal AMIN (MAS) 70-72-69, Mitsuhiko HASHIZUME (JPN) 69-71-71, Ratchapol JANTAVARA (THA) 73-66-72, LEE Cho-chuan (TPE) 71-68-72<\/p>\n
212 – CHANG Tse-Peng (TPE) 71-70-71, Darren TAN (AUS) 69-71-72, Akhmal TARMIZEE (MAS) 69-71-72, Hanafiah JAMIL (MAS) 72-68-72, Daniel BRINGOLF (AUS) 70-69-73<\/p>\n
213 – Wasin SRIPATTRANUSORN (THA) 72-70-71, Blake MCGRORY (AUS) 72-73-68, Hendre Izak CELLIERS (RSA) 69-70-74, Jakraphan PREMSIRIGORN (THA) 69-70-74<\/p>\n
214 – James BOWEN (USA) 67-74-73, PARK Jin-Woo (KOR) 71-70-73, Malcolm KOKOCINSKI (SWE) 74-71-69<\/p>\n
215 – Michael MOORE (AUS) 75 69 71, Rashid ISMAIL (MAS) 67-74-74<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Manila: Chinese Taipei star Lin Wen-tang put himself in position of winning a sixth Asian Tour title for the first time in over three years when he shot a one-over-par 73 in tough scoring conditions at the Solaire Open on Friday. Lin was tied with Thai duo Thammanoon Sriroj (69) and Kwanchai Tannin (71) and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[8782,6293,8783,1568,8784,8119,8748],"class_list":["post-14834","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-world-golf-news","tag-asian-tour-title","tag-indian-sports-news-network","tag-kwanchai-tannin","tag-lin-wen-tang","tag-matt-jager","tag-solaire-open","tag-thammanoon-sriroj"],"yoast_head":"\n