Hoey Hopes Of Thai Title Fade

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Michael Hoey’s hopes of victory in the Thailand Classic faded after carding a one over par 73 in his third round at Black Mountain.

Hoey, who led after the opening round, started steadily picking up one shot in his opening nine holes to reach the turn at eight under for the tournament.

However the man from Ballmoney failed to gather any momentum and dropped three shots on the back nine before a birdie on the last dragged him to seven under par, eight shots off the lead of Scott Hend.

Big-hitting Hend carded a six-under-par 66 in the third round to take a one-stroke lead ahead of Spaniard Miguel Angel Jimenez (69) and three-times Asian Tour Order of Merit winner Thongchai Jaidee (67) of Thailand.

Another local hope Kiradech Aphibarnrat posted a 70 to be at fourth spot in the $2 million tournament, co-sanctioned by the European and Asian Tours.

Hend made birdies on the second and seventh holes but his game went up a gear after making the turn at the Black Mountain Golf Club.

He added another shot on the 10th, sunk an eagle three on the 609-yards 13th and picked up further gains on the 15th and 17th before giving up one on the last for his day’s only blemish.

“It was a good round and puts me in a good position,” Hend said.

“I played very solidly and putted quite well. I only made one mistake so it was pretty good.

“This is where you want to be, in the last group on a Sunday. I’ll be playing with Thongchai again and Miguel so it’ll be a good little test tomorrow.”

Overnight leader Jimenez stayed in the hunt with a spotless round of 69.

“I’m playing well and hitting it well,” the 51-year-old said. “I missed a few putts but I’m creating lots of chances.

“It could have been five or six under today but that’s the game and you have to take it.”

Tournament ambassador Thongchai also matched Jimenez in going bogey-free and was confident he had the game to challenge Hend in the final round.

“I played really well again today. I managed to hit 17 greens and gained lots of confidence from my finishing hole which I birdied,” said Thongchai.

“This course favours the long hitters. Just look at Scott Hend, he was getting on the greens in two on all of the par-fives. On 17, he could even reach the green from the tee!

“My style is not so aggressive but I will use my accuracy and putting and try to go low tomorrow.”

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McDowell Shares Maybank Lead

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Graeme McDowell believes he is reaping the benefits of a hard winter’s work after taking a share of the lead on day one of the Maybank Malaysian Open.

The Northern Irishman carded a six under par 66 at Kuala Lumpur Golf & Country Club to join defending champion Lee Westwood at the top of the leaderboard.

And the former US Open Championship was pleased to continue the progress he made last week, when he finished tied for ninth in Dubai on his first start of 2015.

“I was fairly happy with the way everything looked coming into the new year,” said the 35 year old Ryder Cup star. “I did a lot of work off the course over the winter improving some things physically and in my swing, and things seem to be clicking really well. 

“It’s early days, but I’m feeling relaxed and my attitude’s good. If I can continue that for the rest of the year then good things will happen.”

In breezy conditions, McDowell’s Ryder Cup team-mate Westwood carded four birdies in an outward 32 at the venue where he romped to a seven shot victory last year.

A further gain followed at the long third, but the 41 year old dropped his only shot of the day after missing a five footer at the sixth.

Westwood was one of those tied for ninth with McDowell last Sunday, and he responded with birdies from six feet at the seventh and 20 feet at the ninth.

“I putted very nicely and started the ball on line well,” said Westwood. “I left a couple short in the middle when I was fooled by the grain, but overall I’m very happy. It’s probably the toughest I’ve ever seen this golf course play.”

McDowell had also started on the back nine, and having picked up shots at the tenth, 15th and 17th, started for home with consecutive gains.

Like Westwood he dropped his only shot at the sixth after failing to get up-and-down from in front of the green, but holed from eight feet at the next and six feet on his final hole.

And the 35 year old would have led outright but for missing a five foot chance in between at the short eighth after a tremendous tee shot.

“I’m pretty happy,” added McDowell. “I hit the ball great today - drove it well and gave myself a lot of looks for birdie. 

“Generally I’m very, very happy with that start. I’ve enjoyed the way this golf course looks from the start and I enjoyed playing it this morning with good company from the boys - it’s a solid start.

“It’s tough to pinpoint what you have to do right on this course because you have to do everything right. You have to drive it well, hit your irons well, and chipping and putting around the greens is tough as well. 

“It really is kind of an all-round golf course, and the guys who have won round here – Lee Westwood, Thongchai Jaidee and Ryan Moore on the PGA Tour – are good all-round players. I think when I’m on, I’m one of those players as well.”

The leading pair are one ahead of England’s Tommy Fleetwood, who holed a lengthy birdie putt at the eighth in his round of 67, and home favourite Danny Chia.

Paul McGinley, Europe's 2014 Ryder Cup Captain, was among those on three under after an impressive round of 69 in his first outing of the 2015 season, as was another of his charges from Gleneagles, Stephen Gallacher.

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Europe Battle Asia Rally

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Asia battled back from a disastrous first day at the inaugural EurAsia Cup - but Europe still remain firmly on course for victory in Kuala Lumpur.

After being whitewashed 5-0 in Thursday's fourballs, Thongchai Jaidee's side secured three points from Friday's foursomes to leave the score at 7-3.

Prayad Marksaeng and Kim Hyung-sung got the better of Thomas Bjorn and Thorbjorn Olesen 4&3 while Anirban Lahiri and Siddikur Rahman defeated Joost Luiten and Victor Dubuisson by one hole.

It seemed there would be another victory for the hosts when Jaidee and Kiradech Aphibarnrat led going down the last, only for Europe captain Miguel Angel Jimenez to deny them in stunning fashion.

The 50-year-old, who made two eagles at Glenmarie Golf and Country Club for the second day running, produced a superb approach to the 18th green to set up fellow Spaniard Pablo Larrazabal for a birdie to snatch a half.

That meant the spoils were deservedly shared in a high-quality contest. Jimenez had holed a bunker shot on the third for an eagle and then a putt from 30ft on the 11th for another, although that effort was only good enough for a half.

Missed chance

Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano and Stephen Gallacher also halved their match with Koumei Oda and Hideto Tanihara, although the duo missed a birdie chance on the last to win.

"We managed to half a couple of matches and win another one. It was a tough day in the heat and Asia played very well today." 

Gallacher missed from 12 feet on the 18th to snatch victory after he and his Spanish playing partner had let slip a three-hole lead from the 10th onwards. They lost lost four of the next five but levelled matters at the 17th hole.

Europe's only winners were Graeme McDowell and Jamie Donaldson, who came from behind for the second match running to beat Gaganjeet Bhullar and Nicholas Fung 2&1.

For the second successive day McDowell and Donaldson had to recover from an early deficit, though they were rather gifted a number of holes after finding themselves two down just before the turn.

"At the end of the day I am happy," Jimenez said. "We managed to half a couple of matches and win another one. It was a tough day in the heat and Asia played very well today.

"At one point it looked like it was going to be the opposite of yesterday but we managed to get the points and 7-3 is a good lead for tomorrow."

Europe now need just three-and-a-half points from Saturday's 10 singles matches to secure overall victory.

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McDowell EurAsia Cup Ready

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Graeme McDowell is the highest-ranked player at the EurAsia Cup being held in Kuala Lumpur this week.

Miguel Angel Jimenez is Team captain with a number of Ryder Cups under his belt, along with McDowell and Thomas Bjorn.

However Victor Dubuisson, Jamie Donaldson and Stephen Gallacher are all currently in qualifying positions, with Joost Luiten, Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano and Pablo Larrazabal all with a chance at Gleneagles.

Paul McGinley's Ryder Cup team may contain a couple of the EurAsia team come Gleneagles.

"One of the toughest parts of the Ryder Cup is putting pairings together, and getting foursomes pairings right," said McDowell.

"That's why a tournament like this, the EurAsia Cup, to me is something that's very, very important for both The European Tour and the Asian Tour. Asia is the main area of growth for the game of golf in the world, so it's a natural place for The European Tour.

"It's obviously a big part of the European Tour and to have a Europe versus Asia match is something that our schedule needs from a Ryder Cup point of view.

"We need this event to become something very special, something the guys look forward to and something that is part of Ryder Cup Team building; a chance to put ten guys together, come out here and play against a good team and try some pairings and really enjoy playing team golf.

"Team golf is very different from what we are used to as individuals because you're playing for each other.

"You just don't want to let your team mates down and there is a lot of extra pressure from that, but it's also one of the main reasons why European Teams have been so successful."

McGinley's vice-captain for Gleneagles, Des Smyth, will operate in the same role for Jimenez in Kuala Lumpur this week, so he will get to know the players as they get a chance to impress.

Playing captain Jimenez has featured in four Ryder Cups as a player, winning two, and has also been a vice-captain twice and he agrees that the EurAsia Cup could be a vital part of the preparation.

"The Ryder Cup started in 1927 and probably now is the event in golf and everyone wants to play and I think is the important thing," said Jimenez. "Now we start the EurAsia Cup in 2014 and hopefully with the support of the players and the effort of these two big tours, the EurAsia Cup will become a big event along with the Ryder Cup."

All ten players on each team will be in action in every session at Glenmarie's Garden course, with five fourball matches played on the opening day on Thursday, followed by five foursomes on Friday and ten concluding singles matches on Saturday.

Team Asia

Thongchai Jaidee (Captain, Thailand), Kiradech Aphibarnrat (Thailand), Gaganjeet Bhullar (India), Nicholas Fung (Malaysia), Kim Hyung-sung (Korea,) Anirban Lahiri (India), Prayad Marksaeng (Thailand), Koumei Oda (Japan), Siddikur Rahman (Bangladesh), Hideto Tanihara (Japan).

Team Europe

Miguel Angel Jimenez (Captain, Spain), Thomas Bjorn (Denmark), Jamie Donaldson (Wales), Victor Dubuisson (France), Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano (Spain), Stephen Gallacher (Scotland), Pablo Larrazabal (Spain), Joost Luiten (Netherlands), Graeme McDowell (N Ireland), Thorbjorn Olesen (Denmark).

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