Kearney stalls as Westwood roars in Jakarta; Chinese challenging in Shanghai

Lee Westwood. Picture © Asian Tour

Niall Kearney slipped back with a 74 as a sensational Lee Westwood roared into a five-shot lead with a round to go in the CIMB Niaga Indonesian Masters at the Royale Jakarta Golf Club.

Without a top 10 since the Malaysian Open in February, former world No 1 Westwood played his last seven holes in an incredible seven under to post a seven-under-par 65 and lead on eight under par.

Frustrated after a level par front nine, Westwood’s round took off when he eagled the 12th. After than he birdied the next five holes before parring the par-five 18th for an astonishing back nine of 29.

Thailand’s Namchok Tantipokhakul carded a 71 to tie for second with Denmark’s Thomas Bjorn and Korea’s Y.E. Yang on matching 213 total at the US$750,000 Asian Tour event.

“I was struggling for a bit of momentum around the front-nine as I found it hard to read the greens,” said Westwood, the world No 33. “That eagle from about 25 ft really got me going and I went on to birdie the next five holes.

“Nobody was really doing anything around the front-nine. I was sort of plodding along and even-par till 11 and only two behind then. But I managed to have a good run after that and stamp a bit of authority when nobody was doing it.”

With a hat-trick of titles in sight, Westwood is determined to make his visit to Jakarta another enjoyable one.

“I’ve been here twice and I won both times so I like to keep that going. I’ve never been beaten before so I’m going in with a big chance tomorrow,” said Westwood.

Kearney was out in the second group of the day off the 10th and was three over after bogeys at the 15th, first and second before closing a disappointing day with a birdie four at the ninth to move up to 51st on seven over.

He goes out in the final round with Indian duo Angad Cheema and Abhijit Chadha at 8am on Sunday (1am in Ireland).

CIMB NIAGA Indonesian Masters

Royale Jakarta GC course (Par 72, 7340 Yards)

208 Lee WESTWOOD (ENG) 69-74-65.

213 Y.E. YANG (KOR) 73-71-69, Thomas BJORN (DEN) 66-76-71, Namchok TANTIPOKHAKUL (THA) 69-73-71.

214 Kalle SAMOOJA (FIN) 69-76-69.

215 Thitiphun CHUAYPRAKONG (THA) 71-77-67, Khalin JOSHI (IND) 71-76-68, Bryce EASTON (RSA) 73-77-65, Kalem RICHARDSON (AUS) 75-70-70, Jeunghun WANG (KOR) 74-71-70, Yosuke TSUKADA (JPN) 71-71-73, Chapchai NIRAT (THA) 68-74-73, CHAN Shih-chang (TPE) 66-75-74.

216 Raphael DE SOUSA (SUI) 72-76-68, Danny CHIA (MAS) 74-74-68, Lionel WEBER (FRA) 73-74-69, Berry HENSON (USA) 75-72-69, LEE Chieh-po (TPE) 71-75-70, Paul SPARGO (AUS) 70-74-72, Unho PARK (AUS) 67-73-76.

217 Rashid KHAN (IND) 69-79-69, Keith HORNE (RSA) 74-73-70, Prayad MARKSAENG (THA) 73-72-72, Paul PETERSON (USA) 71-73-73.

223 - Niall KEARNEY (IRL) 73 76 74

David Howell. Picture © Getty Images

European Tour — Four players will take a two-shot lead into the final round of the Volvo China Open in Shanghai

Alex Levy, Li Hao-tong and Wu Ashun will not lack for motivation when they head into the final day locked on eight under par with Ryder Cup star David Howell. 

The locals at Tomson Shanghai Pudong Golf Club will have high hopes of a home win after playing partners Li and Wu both posted rounds of 69 to climb to eight under par alongside Howell, who had earlier signed for a sparkling 68.

Defending champion Levy had threatened to run away with the tournament after reeling off four successive birdies from the first hole, but a lacklustre back nine of 38 saw him drop back into a share of first place with a 71.

By the numbers: 

• 4 Birdies in a row for Alex Levy at the start of his round.
• 6 Overnight leader Julien Quesne and his fellow Frenchman Romain Wattel both came unstuck at the sixth hole, carding double bogey sixes to slip down the leaderboard.
• 30 Magnus Carlsson’s score on the front nine, the lowest of the week so far.
• 19 Age in years of Li Hao-tong, who would become the youngest Chinese player in history to win on The European Tour should he claim victory tomorrow.
• 2 Eagles today, Robert Karlsson on the 18th hole and Max Kieffer on the second.     
• 4 Birdies made on the 16th, the 461-yard par four over water which was statistically the hardest hole on the course in round three.

Volvo China Open

208 D Howell (Eng) 68 72 68, W Ashun (Chn) 73 66 69, A Levy (Fra) 69 68 71, L Hao-Tong (Chn) 71 68 69,

210 R Ramsay  (Sco) 72 68 70, M Carlsson  (Swe) 73 72 65, S Benson (Eng) 75 69 66, P Meesawat  (Tha) 72 70 68,

211 T Pieters  (Bel) 70 71 70,212 S Strange (Aus) 71 72 69, J Quesne  (Fra) 69 67 76, E Grillo (Arg) 73 70 69, M Manassero (Ita) 71 68 73,

213 R Fisher (Eng) 76 69 68, P Uihlein  (USA) 70 67 76, B Hebert  (Fra) 70 76 67, R Wattel  (Fra) 72 67 74, J Morrison  (Eng) 73 70 70, R Green (Aus) 73 71 69, T Hatton (Eng) 75 69 69,

214 M Hendry (Nzl) 68 73 73, B Dredge (Wal) 68 74 72, M Ilonen  (Fin) 73 71 70, R Jacquelin (Fra) 74 68 72,

215 J Edfors (Swe) 74 72 69, S Kjeldsen (Den) 75 71 69, A Noren  (Swe) 73 70 72, M Griffin (Aus) 75 68 72, F Aguilar (Chi) 80 65 70, R Karlsson (Swe) 75 70 70, N Cullen (Aus) 72 73 70, L Bjerregaard  (Den) 75 70 70, T Pilkadaris (Aus) 72 73 70, I Park (Kor) 70 74 71, M Nixon (Eng) 73 70 72, K Aphibarnrat (Tha) 71 68 76,

216 G Havret  (Fra) 76 68 72, A Johnston (Eng) 72 70 74, J Lando Casanova  (Fra) 71 68 77, R Paratore (Ita) 74 71 71, B An (Kor) 72 68 76, R Gibson (Aus) 71 71 74, D Horsey (Eng) 72 73 71, G Bourdy (Fra) 74 72 70, T Lee (Kor) 74 71 71, R Cabrera-Bello (Esp) 73 69 74,

217 S Kapur (Ind) 70 72 75, M Foster (Eng) 72 71 74, C Lee (Sco) 70 75 72, T Fisher Jnr (RSA) 75 71 71,

218 C Wood  (Eng) 73 70 75, M Kieffer (Ger) 73 72 73, M Fraser (Aus) 69 76 73, J Lee (Aus) 72 74 72, R Rock (Eng) 73 73 72, M Korhonen (Fin) 71 72 75, O Wilson (Eng) 70 76 72,

220 D Drysdale (Sco) 75 69 76, S Hend (Aus) 71 73 76, Z Jin (Chn) 72 70 78, J Carlsson (Swe) 70 75 75,

221 Y Tian (Chn) 75 69 77, R Carter (USA) 71 73 77,223 S Hansen (Den) 75 70 78, S Jeffress (Aus) 72 74 77, E Espana (Fra) 74 72 77,

225 Z Xin-Jun (Chn) 75 71 79