26 April 2008
Darren Clarke grabs third round lead in BMW Asian Open Golf
Posted by admin under: BMW Asian Open .
The big Ulsterman fired five birdies against no bogeys at the Tomson Shanghai Pudong Golf Club to edge ahead of overnight co-leader Robert-Jan Derksen of the Netherlands, who returned a 69.
Little-known Englishman Robert Dinwiddie produced the day’s best of 66 to charge into third place, two off the lead while Chinese Taipei’s Lin Wen-tang was a further stroke back after a battling 69 in the US$2.3 million event sanctioned by the Asian Tour, European Tour and China Golf Association.
An eagle on the par four 17th earned Chinese teenage amateur Hu Mu the honour as the best placed local player in a share of fifth place following a 71, lying with amongst others, India’s Digvijay Singh, who fired an impressive 67.
Joint overnight leader Zhang Lian-wei endured a difficult 76 while Liang Wen-chong settled for a 73 as both players ended the day in a share of 15th place.
Clarke, who is making his maiden visit to China, was in his element as he rolled in birdies on the second, sixth, 10th, 15th and 18th holes to take pole position with his three-day total of nine-under-par 207.
“I was very pleased with the way I hit the ball. For the most part I had the ball under control. 67 is probably the least favoured results for the way I played,” said Clarke, who is a 10-time winner on the European Tour.
He has not won a title since 2005 and is anxious to end his title drought. “I am really looking forward to it, it has been a while. I was in contention a few times at the start of the season but it has been a while since I led and I am really looking forward to it. I want to go out and play, play as well as I can, add the numbers up and hopefully it will be good enough. If not I’ll battle again next week,” said Clarke.
Derksen, a two-time winner but not since 2005, kept himself in the hunt with a five-birdie round. The Dutchman said a bogey save on the par three 14th hole after he found water off the tee kept him in the tournament.
“That up and down from the dropping zone was important to keep myself going. That was a good safe for a four,” said the 34-year-old Derksen.
“I had a bit of a difficult start. I didn’t hit too many fairways, not as much as I wanted to early on and then bogeyed the fifth. But after that I played very solid. I got it back together.I felt that it was important to keep myself in the last group for tomorrow and I’ve achieved that so that I can see what the others are doing. Hopefully I can play another good round.”
Lin, who won the Asian Tour International in Thailand last month, cruised up the leaderboard with a superb outward nine of 32 with five birdies against a lone bogey. After a costly double bogey on 10 when he spun his approach shot back into the water guarding the green and a bogey on the 13th hole, the Chinese Taipei player fought back with birdies on the 16th and 17th hole, and rolling in a 15-footer par save at the last to keep himself in contention.
“I putted really good today, needed only 22 putts,” said Lin. “But I had my troubles on the fifth and 10th holes when I hit it into the water. I had seven birdies on the card, so I’m happy.
“I was happy with how I fought back. I’m four shots back and I’ve just got to try and go out to shoot a good number tomorrow.”
When he moved to the top of the leaderboard after making the turn, Lin said he got ahead of himself and lapses in concentration saw him drop three shots after the turn.
“I’ll have to be careful with my tempo as I got a bit quick on the 10th when I saw that I was on the leaderboard. I’ll have to keep reminding myself to slow down,” said the three-time Asian Tour winner.
Hu, an 18-year-old amateur based in Florida, sank an eagle two on the par four 17th hole to emerge as the highest placed Chinese player heading into Sunday’s final round.
“It was a tough day mentally. I was looking to shoot a low score but I didn’t start out the way I wanted it, ball striking wise. I just hung in there until the 17 where I hit an eagle. I hit a cut driver and hit it the way I wanted to and it landed 10 feet of the pin and I made the putt. It was nice,” said Hu.
The teenager, touted as China’s next great hope in golf, took time to settle his nerves despite an opening birdie but enjoyed playing in front of the large Chinese crowds. “I didn’t know what to think or do before the round. But when I got onto the course, I calmed down. I’m still in the top 10 and hopefully I can shoot another under par or even round tomorrow to stay there.”