2007 Pertamina Indonesia President Invitational - Round 2: Lu in three-way tie for clubhouse lead

Taiwan's Lu Wei-chih fired a sizzling 10-under-par 62 at the Pertamina Indonesia President Invitational on the way to a three-way tie for the clubhouse lead on Friday.

Lu, who is hoping to improve on his 70th ranking on the Asian Tour’s UBS Order of Merit, has been enjoying solid form in the two weeks as he blasted 10 birdies for a 12-under-par 132 at the Jack Nicklaus-designed Damai Indah Golf – BSD Course. While Lu matched the course mark held by Paul Friedlander from Swaziland in 1997, his score will not be considered an official record as the preferred lie ruling was in operation which allows players to lift and clean their balls on the fairways.

The 28-year-old Lu is playing in his 21st straight event this year as he was tied alongside rookie from Australia Neven Basic who carded a 67 together with American stalwart Anthony Kang who improved with a 65 in the US$350,000 Asian Tour event. India’s Digvijay Singh was a stroke behind as he shot a 66 in lone fourth position while fifth place New Zealander Mark Brown fired a similar score for a 136 total.

After a 67 in the first round, Ryder Cup star Lee Westwood was one over after the opening hole before play was suspended at 12:31pm due to lightning. Play resumed at 3:00pm but darkness forced a second suspension at 4:55pm as Westwood ended the day on three under after nine holes.

Under the clear conditions in the morning, Lu, who had topped the field in the Japan Qualifying School second round last week, continued his fine form today firing 10 birdies that included five straight birdies on the 15th, 16th, 17th, 18th and first holes.

“My irons were solid and I struck it close to the pins the entire round. I came in straight from the Japan Qualifying School and I’m enjoying a good run now. My coach (Chen Yuan-chi) told me to change my stance on my swing which I did two weeks ago and it showed the difference right away with my accurate shots off the tee.

“I am standing much closer to the ball on my swing and it helps me drive the ball on target. That has been the main difference for me in the past two weeks and I hope to adopt a similar aggressive approach when I tee off in the third round,” said Lu, with one Asian Tour title under his belt.

With seven birdies against two dropped shots, Basic has found the right swing as he is enjoying a solid rookie season.

“I had a new five wood that has given me some extra distance. I can shoot it to an average of 235 yards now and my driving has been steady so I hope am enjoying myself out there. I have been in contention four times this year but somehow I fade away in the third round. I am very happy to be in this position and I hope not to repeat what happened before and hold my game over the weekend,” said Basic.

Kang is placed 32nd on the UBS Order of Merit and with eight birdies with a lone bogey today, he is eager to produce a solid finish to the season.

“My game is getting back together again. I’ve made every shot within 20 feet and my ball striking has been consistent. I’ve not done anything spectacular but I feel that at this point I’m going through a good stretch and enjoying the ride so far. It would be great to continue this run right through the end of the season,” said Kang.

In joint sixth spot was American Clay Devers as he carded a 69. Devers, with two wins in Asia, is tipped to make a charge over the weekend having won on this course back in 1997. He shot three birdies and was tied alongside Australia’s Mitchell Brown who was also in joint sixth spot after a 137 total.

Englishman Westwood, having won in Macau, Japan and Malaysia, shot birdies on the first, fourth and eighth holes before a par on the par four ninth hole.

“I am three under and I’m in a good position at the moment. I’ve been hitting it well and close to the pins so I hope that my momentum will continue through to tomorrow,” said Westwood.

A total of 77 players will resume the second round at 6:30am on Saturday.

Leading second round scores (click here for full leaderboard):

132 - Lu Wei-chih (TPE) 70-62, Anthony Kang (USA) 67-65, Neven Basic (AUS) 65-67
133 - Digvijay Singh (IND) 67-66
136 - Mark Brown (NZL) 70-66
137 - Clay Devers (USA) 68-69, Mitchell Brown (AUS) 70-67
138 - Panuwat Muenlek (THA) 70-68, Guido Van Der Valk (NLD) 68-70, Gary Simpson (AUS) 70-68, Lu Wei-lan (TPE) 71-67
139 - S Siva Chandran (MAS) 72-67, Marcus Both (AUS) 69-70, Stephen Scahill (NZL) 70-69
140 - Benny Kasiadi [A] (INA) 68-72, Dana Mahmud (INA) 71-69, Martin Rominger (SUI) 70-70, Scott Hend (AUS) 70-70, Simon Yates (SCO) 69-71, Taichiro Kiyota (JPN) 72-68, Young Nam (KOR) 68-72, Junaidi Ibrahim (INA) 70-70
141 - Barry Hume (SCO) 68-73, David Gleeson (AUS) 68-73, Naman Dawar (IND) 73-68, Scott Barr (AUS) 70-71, Adam Groom (AUS) 73-68, Ross Bain (SCO) 70-71

October 26, 2007

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