30th - 1st Oct

 

Madaiah fires 64 for a solitary shot lead at Hyundai-MGC Open

 

Chennai, Sept 30:  S Madaiah, the lean pro from Bangalore enjoyed a solitary stroke lead over overnight leader Ashok Kumar even as Amby Valley PGAI Tour’s `Champion golfer of the Year’ Mukesh Kumar made a stunning comeback with a superb bogey-free round of eight-under 62 at the Rs 10-lakh Hyundai-MGC Open at the par-70 MGC Golf Links, here today.  Madaiah’s 54-hole total stood at 13-under 197, one better than Ashok, while city-mate C Muniyappa and SSP Chowrasia were tied for the third place at 199 along with Mukesh.

 

Feroz Ali added a 66 to his overnight total to be in the sole sixth position while Vijay Kumar was seventh at 201. Nabin Mondal and Rafick Ali were in the eighth and ninth position respectively.

 

Madaiah whose parents still are daily-wage labourers at the Karnataka Golf Association has been flirting with his first title on the Amby Valley PGAI Tour when he was in striking range on a couple of occasions last season. After being the joint-leader in the opening round, Madaiah today made a cautious start and made his first birdie on the par-5 third, sinking a 15-footer. However he could not hole a six-footer par putt on the next hole. But that was the end of his mistakes as he made consecutive birdies on the sixth and seventh while also chipping-in from 15 yards on the ninth to be three-under after the first nine.

 

Playing without any pressure, Madaiah continued the good work on his back nine too. Though he missed a couple of birdies from close, he took it with a smile. With a hat-trick of birdies beginning from the 12th, the 24-year-old parred his way home for a round of six-under 64. He saved a good par on the finishing hole draining a 15-footer after being in the green-side bunker. “I am happy with my round although I was unlucky on a couple of occasions,” said Madaiah who hit only 12 greens I regulation while making 27 putts. “The greens are tricky and who so ever makes the putts, will emerge as the winner. Everybody on the Tour hit it identically but the putt have to roll,” he added.

 

Ashok Kumar began and ended his round with a bogey. But in between he made six birdies as well. Leading by two strokes overnight, the 24-year-old today was in an aggressive mood. And this perhaps led him to missing many birdies, as he later admitted. After that dismal start, Ashok did manage to salvage with successive birdies on the third and fourth and was frustrated when his putts did not drop, with some of them being really close. After a birdie on the ninth, Ashok then made a series of three consecutive birdies on the par-5 12, the 13th and 14th, both four-par holes. “I was too aggressive and whenever I realized, I controlled myself,” said Ashok who is looking for his first win on the Amby Valley PGAI Tour 2005-06 season.

 

However, it was Mukesh Kumar who stole the show. The first six holes saw him missing many birdie chances beginning with the par-5 third where he three-putted from seven feet when he was sitting in two for an eagle. And when the birdies began to flow, they never stopped as he made four in a row from seventh. Again on the back nine, the 38-year-old lost at least three opportunities of making birdies. However he did convert four of them – 12th, 14th, 16th and 17th to fight his way back into contention. “My driving is a bit of problem. But it is the putting that I am unhappy about,” said Mukesh who missed only two greens in regulation.

 

SSP Chowrasia had an unusual round where he fired seven birdies besides an eagle and yet finished five-under for the day, courtesy the four bogeys.          

 

Top scores (after 54 holes) Pros: 197 S Madaiah (B’lore) (65, 68, 64); 198 Ashok Kumar (Del) (65, 66, 67); 199 Mukesh Kumar (Mhow) (71, 66, 62), SSP Chowrasia (Kol) (67, 67, 65), C Muniyappa (B’lore) (65, 68, 66); 200 Feroz Ali (Kol) (67, 67, 66); 201 Vijay Kumar (Lucknow) (71, 62, 68); 202 Nabin Mondal (Kol) (66, 68, 68); 203 Rafick Ali (Kol) (69, 66, 68); 204 Vinod Kumar (Del) (68, 70, 66); 205 Matloob Rana (Pak) (68, 68, 69); 206 Harinder Gupta (73, 70, 63), Indrajit Bhalotia (Kol) (70, 68, 68), Vishal Singh (Jaipur) (66, 72, 68), Sankar Das (Kol) (70, 67, 69), Sheeraz Kalra (Lucknow) (68, 69, 69), Amritinder Singh  (Gurgaon) (69, 67, 70) Amateurs: 211 L Selvadurai (75, 68, 68); 223 R Prithviraj (76, 70, 78); 224 S Jayanan (73, 74, 77).

 

CHAPCHAI AND SINGH SHARE LEAD AT CROWNE PLAZA OPEN

 

Beijing , September 30: Thai rookie sensation Chapchai Nirat and India 's Digvijay Singh battled into a share of the halfway lead at the US$200,000 Crowne Plaza Open on Friday.

 

The 22-year-old Chapchai fired a sparkling six-under-par 66 which included six birdies and one eagle at Grand Epoch City Golf Club where his two-day total of four-under-par 140 was matched by Singh.

 

The Indian returned early Friday to complete four holes of his suspended first round and signed for a 68. After a quick break, he went out to shoot a second round 72 to earn a shot at a first Asian Tour title.

 

Asian Tour Order of Merit leader Thaworn Wiratchant of Thailand was lurking a stroke back after enduring a rollercoaster day with five birdies against as many bogeys for a 72. Australian Marcus Both was tied with Thaworn after a 69.

 

Chapchai has made headlines this month, first earning a share of the first round lead at the Singapore Open, dubbed "Asia's Major" due to its US$2 million purse, and finishing 11th. He went on to post a runner-up outing behind Thaworn at the Taiwan Open two weeks ago to underline his growing potential.

 

After struggling with a 74 on Thursday, the burly Chapchai wielded a new driver this morning and reaped immediate rewards with a solid driving display that allowed him to attack the pins. His six birdies were all from close range while his day's highlight was a sensational chip-in eagle on the par five third hole.

 

"I've been playing a lot of golf of late and this is actually my 13th week playing in tournaments, on both the Asian Tour and several domestic circuits. I guess I've gained a lot of experience and confidence over the weeks.

 

"I would like to win a big title but as this is my first full year on the Asian Tour, it may seem like an ambitious goal. If I do win this year, it'll be great. But my main aim is simply to play my best every time I tee up," said Chapchai.

 

Singh has featured in Asia for many years and is searching for a career breakthrough. However, the Indian, who is the brother-in-law to former Asian number one Jyoti Randhawa, is not getting ahead of himself.

 

"I played the remaining four holes nicely this morning and then started my second round well with two birdies on the second and third holes. My bogeys on nine and 10 were results of missing the greens due miscalculation and over-aggression.

 

"I'm playing quite nicely, so we'll see what happens. I'm not going to think about a first win as there is no point in getting ahead of myself. I'm just going out to enjoy the round," said Singh, who completed the first round as the leader.

 

Similar to day one, Thaworn, chasing his third win of the year after triumphs in Taipei and Jakarta, endured a stuttering start with three bogeys in his opening four holes before salvaging an even par effort on what is proving to be a challenging Grand Epoch City layout.

Two more Thais, Prayad Marksaeng and upcoming star Prom Meesawat, are lurking on 142, two strokes off the pace alongside Ecuador 's Rafael Ponce.

 

China's best placed golfer was Liang Wen-chong, who carded a second round 71 for tied 17th place on 145 while Australian Glenn Joyner produced the tournament's first hole in one with an eight iron at the par three eighth hole.

 

The halfway cut was set at seven-over-par 151, with 70 players qualifying for the weekend.

 

Leading second round scores

140 - Chapchai Nirat (THA) 74-66, Digvijay Singh ( IND ) 68-72

141 - Marcus Both (AUS) 72-69, Thaworn Wiratchant (THA) 69-72

142 - Rafael Ponce (ECU) 74-68, Prayad Marksaeng (THA) 72-70, Prom Meesawat (THA) 71-71

143 - Jason Dawes (AUS) 72-71, Alistair Presnell (AUS) 74-69

144 - James Stewart (HKG) 71-73, Pat Giles (AUS) 73-71, Rahil Gangjee (IND) 76-68, Shiv Kapur (IND) 74-70, Jonathan O'Sullivan (AUS) 72-72, Guido Van Der Valk (NDL) 73-71, Hendrik Buhrmann (RSA) 76-68

145 - Kao Bo-song (TPE) 77-68, Liang Wen-chong (CHN) 74-71, Andrew Buckle (AUS) 74-71, Glenn Joyner (AUS) 75-70, Lu Wen-teh (TPE) 74-71, Olle Nordberg (SWE) 75-70, Richard Moir (AUS) 74-71, Mardan Mamat (SIN) 76-69, Jochen Lupprian (GER) 72-73

146 - Yoshinobu Tsukada (JPN) 75-71, Boonchu Ruangkit (THA) 74-72, Zheng Wen-gen (CHN) 73-73, Ron Won (USA) 74-72, Eiji Mizoguchi (JPN) 76-70, Lai Hung-lin (TPE) 75-71, Adam Blyth (AUS) 75-71, Somkiat Srisanga (THA) 75-71, Chen Yu (CHN) 74-72, Gerald Rosales (PHI) 71-75, Andrew Pitts (USA) 73-73, Chang Tse-peng (TPE) 72-74, John Wither (SCO) 73-73, Li Chao (CHN) 70-76, Liao Gui-ming (CHN) 75-71, Chris Rodgers (ENG) 73-73

 

 

ASIAN TOUR ENDORSES GOLFEX DUBAI 2006


Kuala Lumpur , September 30: The Asian Tour has thrown its support behind GolfEx Dubai 2006, a groundbreaking conference which will bring together industry leaders associated with the Royal and Ancient game.

 

Slated from January 29-30, 2006 at Jumeirah Conference Centre, GolfEx Dubai is aimed at providing an excellent platform to network, share ideas and broker deals amongst the game's key decision makers.

 

Asian Tour Chief Executive Louis Martin was delighted to give its full support to GolfEx Dubai, saying the event would help promote the game around the world.

 

“It is vital that those involved in the industry have a forum in which they can share ideas and experience. GolfEx Dubai 2006 provides just such a forum and Dubai is the perfect venue to bring together expertise from around the world," said Martin.

 

Describing GolfEx Dubai as a “spectacular event that will be vital to those involved in the industry”, Martin added that the event would have the wholehearted support of the Asian Tour.

 

GolfEx Dubai, which will be held in conjunction with the Dubai Desert Classic, also has the support of the European Tour, Sunshine Tour and prestigious companies such as IMG, Troon Golf and ISM who manage top stars such as Ernie Els, Darren Clarke and Lee Westwood.

 

Organised by the same company who was behind the successful SoccerEx, GolfEx Dubai is all set to herald a new beginning in the business of golf.