SANYA, China, 20 March 2005 — Chawalit Plaphol set up an intriguing final-day shootout with Ryder Cup stars Colin Montgomerie and Paul Casey after the trio finished top of the leaderboard after the third round of the TCL Classic yesterday.
Chawalit, the smooth-swinging Thai, fired a six-under-par 66 at Yalong Bay Golf Club to force his way into the joint lead with Scotsman Montgomerie and England’s Casey, who both carded matching 68s for a three-day total of 16-under-par 200.
A shot back is Danish star Thomas Bjorn and Australian Terry Pilkadaris, winner of the Asian Tours Sanya Open at the last professional event played at the Yalong Bay course. The one-million dollar TCL Classic is jointly sanctioned by the Asian Tour and European Tour. Bjorn and Pilkadaris moved into the title frame with 68s.
Montgomerie bounced back from three consecutive bogeys on his front nine to give himself a chance of retaining the TCL Classic, which he won when the event was last staged in 2002. Unfortunately, neither of the overnight leaders was able to make a charge, although both Alejandro Quiroz and Choi Gwang-soo remain on target for a lucrative payday on Sunday.
Ames, Howell Share Clubhouse Lead at Rain-Hit Bay Hill
In Orlando, Florida, Canadian Stephen Ames and American Charles Howell shared the clubhouse lead at five-under 139 on Friday when second-round play was suspended for the day at the Bay Hill Invitational.
Only 30 players completed the second round thanks to a long weather delay on Thursday that saw the first round spill over into Friday. Thirty-seven players had yet to tee off.
Among the finishers, Howell and Ames both shot 68, as did Fiji’s Vijay Singh who was in the clubhouse at four-under 140.
Singh’s round included an improbable eagle at his 17th hole, the eighth, where he holed a nine-iron from 152 yards.
Howell birdied his final hole, the par-four ninth, to tie for the lead in the fading light, nearly 12 hours after arriving at the course.
Woods, the four-time Bay Hill champion, shot a first round one-under 71 but did not start his second round.
Ochoa Leads Kang, Sorenstam at Safeway International
In Superstition Mountain, Arizona, Mexico’s Lorena Ochoa seized a two-stroke lead over South Korean Soo-Yun Kang at the Safeway International on Friday, with Swedish superstar Annika Sorenstam stalking both.Ochoa fired a five-under-par 67 to claim sole possession of the lead midway through the $1.4 million event. At 12-under 132, Ochoa is two shots better than Kang and three in front of Sorenstam.
But the rising star from Mexico is quite conscious of the superstar’s presence.
After shooting a 66 that included four consecutive birdies to move to 134, Kang appears less unnerved by Sorenstam. That may be because she won an event in South Korea four years ago that included Sorenstam.First-round co-leader Siew-Ai Lim of Malaysia stumbled to a 72 for 137, five shots off the lead and one in front of England’s Karen Stupples (71) and South Korean Grace Park (67).
