2008 SAIL Open - Round 3: Mark Brown blows hot for a 67 and the lead

New Zealand’s Mark Brown produced a superb five-under-par 67 in blustery conditions to grab the sole third round lead at the inaugural SAIL Open presented by Jaypee Greens on Friday.

On a day when many challengers were blown off course, the in-form Brown surged ahead with his 11-under-par 205 aggregate and leads by one shot from Australian Scott Hend, who carded a 69 and Asian Tour rookie Rhys Davies of Wales, who fired a fine 67.

Joint overnight leader Jyoti Randhawa of India overcame a shaky start which saw him go three over par after seven holes before bouncing back with a 72 to keep his title hopes alive. The Indian star was tied fourth, two off the pace, alongside compatriot Gaganjeet Bhullar, Malaysia’s Danny Chia and Australian Adam Groom, who all carded matching 69s in the US$400,000 event.

Another Australian, Kane Webber (68) made a big move up from 23rd to eighth on 208 while Korean Noh Seung-yul (71), Singaporean Mardan Mamat (69) and veteran Wang Ter-Chang of Chinese Taipei (73) completed the top-10. The three were tied for ninth on 209.

Brown revelled in the tough conditions, saying it felt like playing at home. "It was quite like Wellington where I have played a lot of my golf. It is a nice course and I enjoyed myelf."

Now playing in his second full season on the Asian Tour, Brown added, "I had a good season last year and finished in 15th place on the Order of Merit and this year has been a decent start where I was tied fifth in Indonesia (last week) and 35th in the Indian Masters.

"The leaderboard is pretty congested and I like to attack. There is not much trouble on the course and it all depends on your club selection."

India seems to bring the best out of Brown as he enjoyed a joint fifth outing in last year’s Hero Honda Indian Open. "I love playing in India. It is a fantastic place and right now it has a great climate to play golf and India is coming up in a big way.”

Welshman Davies, the former British boys amateur champion in 2003, turned professional only in late 2007 but showed his growing potential despite a roller-coaster round with seven birdies, five of which came in his opening seven holes, an eagle, two bogeys and a double bogey.

"It was a pretty up and down round. It was rather breezy and windy and the 16th and 18th were particularly tough. I just kept calm and kept going and generated a few birdies and holed a few good putts like the 20-footer on 15th (for an eagle)," said Davies, who earned his Asian Tour card through Qualifying School last December.

Randhawa, Asia’s number one in 2002 and a seven-time winner, struggled early on in the round and blamed a late night of catching up with his family for his sluggish start. "I was tired as I slept a little late last night," admitted Randhawa, who is staying with his sister this week. "I could not concentrate early on and in no time I was three shots down with a double and a bogey. “But I made a great recovery from there and any time, you are two or so behind the leader it is a nice position to be in."

Young Bhullar, whom many reckon could be India's next star in the making, played steady golf, holding his big-hitting well in the face of gusting winds. His 69 was built around a stunning eagle on the par-five 12th, where his smashed a drive of over 400 yards.

Bhullar, second at the Pertamina President Indonesia Invitational last year, followed that up with a textbook pitch to 20 feet, which he duly holed for the eagle and lead. But he dropped back with a bogey on 16th, which he said was his first bad shot of the day. " I had a steady day and had a good eagle, just like yesterday," said Bhullar.

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

205 - Mark Brown (NZL) 69-69-67
206 - Rhys Davies (WAL) 70-69-67, Scott Hend (AUS) 67-70-69
207 - Gaganjeet Bhullar (IND) 70-68-69, Danny Chia (MAS) 68-70-69, Adam Groom (AUS) 67-71-69, Jyoti Randhawa (IND) 67-68-72
208 - Kane Webber (AUS) 70-70-68
209 - Mardan Mamat (SIN) 71-69-69, Noh Seung-yul (KOR) 68-70-71, Wang Ter-chang (TPE) 69-67-73
210 - Richard Lee (NZL) 72-69-69, Ashok Kumar (IND) 70-69-71, Peter Cooke (AUS) 67-72-71, Angelo Que (PHI) 68-70-72, Tony Carolan (AUS) 66-69-75
211 - Adam Blyth (AUS) 71-71-69, Ted Oh (KOR) 73-66-72, Neven Basic (AUS) 70-69-72, Lloyd Saltman (SCO) 70-75-66
212 - Harinder Gupta (IND) 69-70-73, Guido Van Der Valk (NLD) 72-67-73, Ross Bain (SCO) 66-71-75

February 22, 2008

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