Kennedy stays on course in Malaysia
BY iseekgolf.com | Asian Tour | 2006 Asian Tour Q-School - Final Stage | Round Two | 13 Jan 2006
Australian Brad Kennedy stood tall after the completion of the second round at the Asian Tour Qualifying School Final Stage on Friday afternoon.
The former European Tour regular carded a three-under-par 69 at Palm Resort Golf and Country Club’s Cempaka Course for a two-day total of 13-under-par 131 to lead the chase for 40 Asian Tour cards at stake.
In hot pursuit was Korea’s Lee Sung-man, who fired an impressive 64 in the second round to trail the Aussie leader by one stroke. Lee, who is deaf, won the Qualifying School in 2004.
Another Australian, Jason King, was tied third, five off the lead, when he completed his second round in 70. He was joined by a determined Scotsman Ross Bain, who shot a 69 yesterday for a 136 total, and South Africa’s Garth Mulroy, who fired back to back 68s.
A two-hour delay this morning saw the completion of round two in the early afternoon. After the halfway cut was made at 144, round three teed off at 3pm, with the leaders going off later at 4.20pm and unable to complete their third rounds today.
Kennedy, whose main career highlights were runner-up finishes at the 2003 and 2004 Malaysian Open, is looking to re-establish himself in the region after failing to retain his playing rights in Europe last year.
“I want to start the year well but making the top-40 here. It has been going according to plan so far. I played on the European Tour last season but didn’t have any top-10 finishes. So I’m eager for a more inspiring performance on the Asian Tour this year,” said Kennedy.
“There was a lot of pressure on me to perform in 2005. But this year, I have decided to go on my own pace which is what I’m doing here. It’s looking good.”
Filipino rising star Juvic Pagunsan, the Southeast Asian Games gold medallist, carded a second straight 71 to make the halfway cut in tied 50th place with a 142 total. He knows he must do better this weekend to make the grade.
In the second round earlier today, Pagunsan birdied the 13th, bogeyed the 14th, birdied the 16th and ended his round in glorious fashion with another birdie on 18. All his birdies were from close range.
“I’m very happy as I made the cut for the third round. Now I have to put my head down at the task ahead which is to finish inside the top-40. I want to improve on my putting because the greens are quite tricky,” said Pagunsan.
A total of 109 players survived the halfway cut at 144.
Amongst the players who made the cut include Singapore’s Lam Chih Bing (tied 11th), Malaysia’s M. Sasidaran (tied 35th), S. Murthy (tied 35th), P. Paramasawarn (tied 35th), former Asian Tour winners Stephen Lindskog of Sweden (tied 68th) and South Africa’s Nico Van Rensburg (tied 92nd), former world amateur number one Michael Sim of Australia (tied 50th), and Chan Song of Korea (tied 92nd), who is the brother to famous golfing Thai-born twins Aree and Naree.
Source – Asian Tour
