Campbell in hunt for victory in Hong Kong
Brown stars but Poulter out in front
MARK Brown produced one of the rounds of the day at Kingston Heath but it was not sufficient to mount a viable challenge for the Australian Masters in Melbourne yesterday as the drawcards came to the fore.
The New Zealander’s 5-under 67 advanced him to outright fourth and left him seven shots adrift of new leader and defending champion Ian Poulter.
The European Ryder Cup star made massive inroads during moving day on the Melbourne sandbelt layout – the Englishman improved significantly on Friday’s even par 72 with a birdiestudded 8-under 64, the lowest round of the $A1 million tournament.
Poulter leads world No 5 Adam Scott by a stroke after the Australian matched his opening round 67 with Kiwi golfer Michael Campbell remains in the hunt for a droughtbreaking tournament victory after the first nine holes of his third round at the UBS Hong Kong Open in Hong Kong last night.
Campbell sat at 10-under at the halfway point of his round, one clear of Miguel Angel Jimenez, of Spain, and Zhang Lian-we, of China, who sat second-equal at nine-under.
The 43-year-old New Zealander drained birdies on the first and seventh holes, although he bogeyed on the sixth to be one-under with nine to play.
Campbell hasn’t tasted success in the professional golfing ranks since winning the World Match Play Championship at Wentworth in 2005, four months after he held out Tiger Woods to win the US Open in Pinehurst, North Carolina.
His recent form has been encouraging, with the Kiwi claiming a third at the Portugal Masters in Vilamoura a month ago.
Jimenez, Matteo Manassero, of Italy, Fredik Anderson Hed, of Sweden, and Dane Anders Hansen loom as Campbell’s biggest competition over the next day-and-a-half, with only three shots separating the four Europeans, Zhang and the Kiwi.
Campbell opened the day on 9-under after shooting a 6-underpar 64 in the second round on Friday on the Fanling course at Hong Kong Golf Club, as defending champion Rory McIlroy missed the halfway cut in the round at 5-under.
‘‘It now makes winning the Hong Kong Open a lot easier, definitely,’’ Campbell said yesterday morning, after McIlroy’s demise.
‘‘But then Rory’s world No 1 for a reason as he’s a wonderful talent and I’ve admired him ever since he turned pro.’’
McIlroy double-bogeyed his last hole in a round of 72, following a 73 to open his title defence.
Former champion Colin Montgomerie dropped out of the Hong Kong Open earlier in the day, suffering from a foot injury.
The 49-year-old, who won the tournament in 2005, then returned home to Scotland. another composed circuit. Brown recorded seven birdies, including five on the trot from the ninth, to be 6-under heading into today’s final round.
Left hander Gareth Paddison maintained his consistency with a 3-under 69 to also be in contention for a top-10 finish. He is in a tie for fifth.
Australasian PGA Tour order of merit leader Michael Hendry slipped from outright second after carding a birdie-free 7-over 79 – a bogey and double bogey on the fifth and sixth indicated he was struggling to match his previous risk-free rounds and the back nine was also unforgiving as consecutive bogeys on the 14th and 15th confirmed his slide.
Hendry, whose next assignment is next week’s New Zealand Open in Christchurch, blew out to sit in a tie for 13th, a dozen shots off the pace.
Kiwis Nick Gillespie, Ryan Fox, Mahal Pearce, Doug Holloway, Brad Shilton, Michael Long and Kevin Smith are among the back markers.
Queenslander Matt Guyatt, the midway leader, dropped to third after a 3-over 75.