Golfer Lindskog seeks repeat Camry win

Musthofid ,  The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Wed, 06/18/2008 10:45 AM  |  Sports

Stephen Lindskog of Sweden is looking for a second round of victory in the third set of the Camry Invitational golf tournament at Cengkareng Golf Course in Jakarta this week.

"I'm well prepared for the tournament and I must always be ready to become a champion," Lindskog, who has been living in Indonesia for 12 years, said during a media conference in Jakarta on Tuesday.

Lindskog was extended to playoffs before taking victory over Junaedi Ibrahim at Emeralda Golf Course last year.

The Swede said he expected as tough a competition as before, though he refused to single out particular rivals he saw as threats.

"It will be a different event on a different golf course with different challenges. But I have confidence," he said.

"I don't see anybody as opponents (to beat). I will play as best as I can to win the tournament," Lindskog, who finished in seventh place at the Krakatau Invitational in March, said.

Nursalam Tabussala, an official in the Indonesian Professional Golf Association (PGPI), said South Korea, Japan and Australia will also compete in the tournament.

Among the top-ranked national golfers to play are last year's runner-up Junaedi Ibrahim and 2006 champion Sarmili, whose hopes for a repeat of the 2006 victory have been boosted by a win of the Krakatau event.

The event, which features 70 professional and eight amateur players contesting for a total of Rp 100 million (around US$10,000) in cash prizes and a jackpot of a Camry for hole-in-one slam, will be played under a modified format -- two days of competition instead of four, on a 70-par course with no cut-off.

Despite being modified, the event, according to sponsor Johnny Darmawan, has attracted several of the nation's top golfers.

"Although it is not played in full competition in four days, the event has maintained competitiveness, which is a good place for the golfers to hone their skills while chasing the prizes," Johnny Darmawan, who is the president director of event sponsor PT. Toyota-Astra Motor, said.

"We are pleased that we can hold the event for another year," he said.

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