Bransdon, Luiten take lead at RI Open first round

The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Fri, 02/15/2008 10:11 AM | Headlines

Australia's David Bransdon and Joost Luiten of the Netherlands managed to weather a rain-drenched course and windy conditions at the Cengkareng Golf Club in Tangerang to share the lead in the first round of Enjoy Jakarta Astro Indonesia Open on Thursday.

Both men made a solid start by firing six-under 64s to take a one-stroke lead in the US$1.2 million tournament.

Trailing with five-under 65s, included a pack of seven golfers -- Asian Tour No. 1 Liang Wen-chong of China, Jeev Milkha Singh of India and Prayad Marksaeng of Thailand.

Heavy downpours in the afternoon brought the co-sanctioned event between the Asian Tour and European Tour to a halt, with a total of 42 players who did not complete their rounds.

They will resume their game early Friday.

Bransdon carded seven birdies, dropping a lone bogey thanks to good putts and drives.

"I putted really well, drove the ball well too. So it's a pretty satisfying start," said the 30-year-old.

"I made four birdies in a row (from the fourth hole) which got me going and put me right up there."

Luiten was also in top form as he birdied eight times and bogeyed twice in the 14th and 16th holes.

"It was quite tough with the wind (in the morning) but my putter was pretty hot. I just hit a lot of greens and fairways and gave myself a lot of birdie opportunities," said the 22-year old co-leader who turned pro two years ago.

"I want to win tournaments so you have to go for the pins. That's what I did today and it paid off with a lot of birdies.

"I have been close to winning a few times and I think if I have a good week then I can win. We`ll see what happens."

China's Liang posted four birdies in the front nine before wrapping up his game with a total of seven birdies against two bogeys.

"I played well today. My putting has been good. Most of my shots have landed close to the pins and I think there are many positives that I can take from that," he said.

"Hopefully, I can further improve on my score tomorrow."

Thursday, however, seemed to be a tough day for defending champion Mikko Ilonen of Finland and 2005 champ Thaworn Wiratchant of Thailand.

The Finnish holed in a four-under 66, while the Thai fired a three-under 67.

"The rain and strong wind made the last hole difficult," Ilonen said.

"I won`t play if tomorrow rains hard like this."

Ryder Cup stalwart Darren Clarke said he wasn't satisfied with his performance.

"I am just frustrated. I had a lot of chances and unfortunately I didn't take them."

Local golfers Denny Supriadi and Suprapto edged closer to becoming the first Indonesians to make the cut since 2005 by firing three-under 67.

Indonesia's No. 1 Junaidi Ibrahim had already posted two over par 72 when rain washed out the course in the afternoon. (ind)

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