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| April 23, 2006 | Sunday | Rabi-ul-Awwal 24, 1427 |
Golf: Late birdie keeps Stenson in front
SHANGHAI, April 22: Henrik Stenson grabbed a late birdie on his way to recording a one-under-par 71 to move a shot clear of young Spaniard Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano after the third round of the Asian Open on Saturday.
Ahead of the field since the opening round, the Swede had dropped off the top of the leaderboard and was heading home at level par when a long downhill birdie putt at the par-four 16th took him to six-under for the tournament.
Fernandez, last year's European Tour rookie of the year, scrambled well all day for his 69 and could have had a share of the lead, but for a bogey at the 18th.
He finished a shot ahead of three players sharing third on four-under; Australia's Peter O'Malley, Briton Paul Casey and New Zealander Mahal Pearce.
O'Malley streaked to the top of the leaderboard midway through the day after shooting five birdies in his first 14 holes, but his famed accuracy from the tee deserted him at the 15th.
A shot into the trees forced the 40-year-old to take a bogey and he followed that with another dropped shot at the 16th and had to settle for a 69 when a lower score appeared likely.
Casey, twice a winner at co-sanctioned events in China, had an up-and-down day at the Tomson Pudong Golf Club, shooting an eagle, four birdies, one bogey and one double bogey for a 69.
Former British Open champion Paul Lawrie was another player who dropped a shot at the 18th and his 73 left him tied for sixth with Austria's Markus Brier on three under.
Eight-time European order of merit winner Colin Montgomerie was a further shot back with Portugal's Jose-Filipe Lima after his putting troubles returned to haunt him.
Leading third round scores:
210 -- Henrik Stenson (Sweden) 67, 72, 71.
211 -- Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano (Spain) 71, 71, 69.
212 -- Mahal Pearce (New Zealand) 72, 72, 68; Paul Casey (Britain) 72, 71, 69; Peter O'Malley (Australia) 73, 70, 69.
213 -- Markus Brier (Austria) 72, 71, 70; Paul Lawrie (Britain) 70, 70, 73.
214 -- Jose-Filipe Lima (Portugal) 71, 70, 73; Colin Montgomerie (Britain) 69, 74, 71.
215 -- Graeme Storm (Britain) 74, 69, 72; Simon Dyson (Britain) 72, 71, 72; Jose Manuel Lara (Spain) 74, 69, 72.
216 --Thaworn Wiratchant (Thailand) 73, 70, 73; Charlie Wi (South Korea) 69, 73, 74; Peter Lawrie (Ireland) 69, 72, 75; Simon Wakefield (Britain) 73, 70, 73; Jarrod Lyle (Australia) 71, 71, 74; David Higgins (Ireland) 73, 70, 73.
APPLEBY REMAINS ATOP
HOUSTON: Australian Stuart Appleby could not complete his second round but remained atop the leaderboard at the rain-hit Houston Open on Friday.
With heavy rain delaying the start of play by almost three hours, the overnight leader was an error-free five under through 16 holes at the Redstone Golf Club when play was halted.
With two holes to be completes on Saturday, Appleby was 11 under for the tournament, one shot clear of Briton Greg Owen, who rocketed up the leaderboard after a course record seven-under 65.
Second round scores:
133 - Stuart Appleby 66-67
134 - Greg Owen 69-65
136 - Trevor Immelman 69-67
137 - Mathias Gronberg 68-69, Jerry Smith 67-70, Charley Hoffman
70-67 138 - Aaron Baddeley 68-70
139 - Tag Ridings 70-69, Brett Wetterich 70-69, Kevin Stadler 71-68, Lucas
Glover 71-68, Blaine McCallister 71-68, Stephen Leaney 68-71, D.A. Points 67-72 ...
140 - John Senden 71-69, Vijay Singh 69-71, K.J. Choi 71-69, Fredrik Jacobson 69-71, Henrik Bjornstad 71-69
141 - Ian Poulter 72-69, Gabriel Hjertsted 72-69, Greg Chalmers 72-69, Richard S. Johnson 72-69
142 - Mike Weir 71-71, Jesper Parnevik 69-73, Gavin Coles 75-67.—Agencies
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