Aguilar edges closer to Enjoy golf trophy
Chilean Felipe Aguilar shot a three-under-par 67 in the third round to keep the lead at the Enjoy Jakarta Astro Indonesia Open golf tournament at Cengkareng Golf Club, west of Jakarta, on Saturday.
After bogeying the first hole, the Chilean fired an eagle on the ninth hole and birdied his 11th hole to give himself an overall 16-under-par 194.
“I still got a couple of bad shots but I putted an eagle in the ninth hole, which helped me a lot. It`s like a revenge for what happened yesterday (in that hole),” the 34-year-old pro said after posing with fans for photos.
During second-round play, Aguilar intended to close his game with a birdie on the last hole, but ended up with a par after a downhill slide.
When asked about his preparation for the last round on Sunday, he smiled and said: “I will just take it easy … have a nice dinner and sleep early tonight.”
The second Chilean to hold a European Tour card, he said although he had thoughts about winning the tournament he was fully aware of the leading players behind him.
“We`ll know after 18 holes tomorrow. You can`t ever tell, because nothing is sure in this game.”
China`s Liang Wen Chong fared well, leapfrogging four players and landing in joint second place with Jeev Milkha Singh of India with an overall 14-under-par 196.
Wen Chong, who last year recorded the first rank in the Order of Merit of Asian Tour, fired eight birdies and bogeyed his first and fifth holes, while Singh carded six birdies and only bogeyed his 13th hole.
The three leaders were among the other leader-board players in the tournament who had a chance to play with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono watching.
The President dropped by the golf course to mingle with spectators at the tournament organized to coincide with the Visit Indonesia Year 2008 campaign. Also present were Jakarta Governor Fauzi Bowo and Culture and Tourism Minister Jero Wacik.
“I invited the president on behalf of the Indonesian Golf Association (PGI) because we want to cheer our four Indonesian golfers who made the cut as well as to show that Indonesia is a safe place to visit,” Jero Wacik, who is also the general chairman of the PGI, told The Jakarta Post.
He said PGI promised a reward to the four Indonesians for their achievement but stopped short of elaborating on what they would receive.
The President arrived when Maan Nasim, Ilyasyak, Denny Supriadi and amateur Suprapto had already wrapped up their game.
“I was so happy to shake hands with Pak SBY that I couldn’t say anything,” said Suprapto.
Although an amateur, the 46-year old outperformed his pro teammates, finishing the day with four-under-par 206. Maan scored two-under-par 208 while Ilyasyak and Denny faltered at two-over-par 212 and four-over-par 214 respectively. (ind)
Indonesia Open
Leading third round scores in the US$1.2 million Indonesia Open at the Cengkareng Golf Club on Saturday:
194 - Felipe Aguilar (Chi) 65-62-67
196 - Liang Wen-Chong (Chn) 65-67-64, Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind) 65-66-65
197 - Prom Meesawat (Tha) 66-63-68, James Kamte (Rsa) 62-67-68
199 - Mark Bro (Nzl) 67-66-66, Joost Luiten (Ned) 64-69-66, Wang Ter-Chang (Tpe) 69-64-66, Prayad Marksaeng (Tha) 65-65-69
200 - Philip Golding (Eng) 65-70-65, Arjun Atwal (Ind) 67-67-66, Adam Blyth (Aus) 66-67-67, Martin Wiegele (Aut) 65-65-70
Source: The Jakarta Post
Add comment February 18th, 2008