Jakarta, July 3: New Zealand’s Michael Hendry, first class cricketer turned Tour professional, took the third round lead in the US$1 million Indonesia Open presented by Enjoy Jakarta today upstaging Chinese number one Liang Wenchong.
Hendry fired a five-under-par 67 for a one shot lead over Liang, who carded a 71.
In-form Hendry, who won the Fiji Open two weeks ago and was a back-to-back winner of titles on New Zealand’s domestic Tour in May, leads the OneAsia event on 12-under-par 204.
Liang had started the day with a two stroke lead after matching the course record with a 64 at Damai Indah Golf - Pantai Indah Kapuk Course but had a frustrating day on the greens.
Taiwan’s Hsieh Tung-shu carded a 69 to lie in solo possession of third place three behind Hendry.
Singaporean Mardan Mamat moved into contention with a 68 and is a stroke further back with Australians Steven Jones and Anthony Brown, who shot rounds of 70 and 72 respectively.
“It hasn’t really sunk in yet that I am leading. I am really enjoying it. I don’t feel nervous and honestly don’t feel I am playing my best golf yet,” said Hendry who comes from North Harbour.
The 30-year-old made an eagle, five birdies and two bogeys. He birdied the first three holes and eagled the sixth to put the pressure on playing partner Liang.
Hendry played cricket for New Zealand’s under-19 cricket team and later represented Auckland before opting to focus on golf when he was 24. He became a member of the paid ranks in 2004.
He credits swing changes for helping to produce his fine form this season.
“I was very disillusioned with my game at the end of 2008 so I gave my swing a complete overhaul with my coach. I made major changes and it was really hard work but it was worth it,” said Hendry.
The tall Kiwi came fifth in the SK Telecom Open in May on OneAsia. It was his best result as a professional but he is well placed to better that this week.
Liang is bidding to win his third OneAsia title but was as a shadow of the player who made nine birdies on day two.
“It was a disappointing day as I really struggled on the greens. I’ll have to work out what went wrong so I can come back strong tomorrow. I still have a great chance of winning,” said Liang.
Liang won the season opening Luxehills Chengdu Open in China on OneAsia in April. He also claimed last year’s Midea China Classic.
He made two birdies on the front side and a bogey coming in.
Thailand’s Thaworn Wiratchant, winner of this event in 2005, fired a 72 and is seven behind the leader.
Japan’s Shingo Katayama, who like Liang had a frustrating day on the greens missing over a dozen makeable birdie putts, shot 76 and is nine off the pace. He finished with a triple bogey seven on the par-four 18th where he found water off the tee.
Jamal Ondo is the leading Indonesian golfer after carding 73 to lie one over par for the tournament. The golfer was a reserve for the tournament and only got in at the last minute when one of the 37 spots reserved for local players became available.
The burgeoning OneAsia will stage 11 tournaments with a total of more than US$12 million in prize money this season.
This week's event will be showcased on OneAsia's television platform with live coverage for four hours a day across all four tournament days, and broadcast to over 260 million homes in more than 40 countries.
Full coverage of this week's event is available domestically on ESPN Star Sports, as well as internationally on ESPN3.com, Network Ten, America One and Bloomberg Television among others.
Leading third round scores:
(Par 72)
204 – Michael Hendry (NZL) 70-67-67
205 – Liang Wenchong (CHN) 70-64-71
207 – Hsieh Tung-shu (TPE) 68-70-69
208 – Mardan Mamat (SIN) 71-69-68, Steven Jones (AUS) 71-67-70, Anthony Brown (AUS) 67-69-72
211 – Thaworn Wiratchant (THA) 71-68-72, Tsai Chi-huang (TPE) 67-76-68, Simon Yates (SCO) 71-72-68
212 – Chan Shih-chang (TPE) 75-69-68, Michael Long (NZ) 74-69-69, Andrew Martin (AUS) 70-72-70, Stephen Darnell (AUS) 72-69-71, Anthony Summers (AUS) 68-70-74, Wu Kangchun (CHN) 73-73-66
About OneAsia
OneAsia is a non-profit organisation developed to maximize elite tournament opportunities in Asia-Pacific. The Founding members of OneAsia are the China Golf Association, the Korea Golf Tour, the Korea Golf Association and the PGA of Australia. The mission of OneAsia is not just to allow the region’s best players to gain access to more events, but to ultimately provide them with an alternative pathway to the PGA Tour and the European Tour, thus retaining the best golfing talent in the region without compromising their development.
For more information, please contact:
Janice Lee Fang
PR & Media Manager - OneAsia
Mobile: +65 8268 8155
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Simon Wilson
Media Manager - World Sport Group
Phone: +65 9127 5419
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