Prom among six players tied for lead in Panasonic Open

Prom could have taken the outright lead but missed his par putt from two feet on the last hole at the Delhi Golf Club to tie with Australians Adam Groom and Scott Barr, Asian Tour rookie James Byrne of Scotland and Indian duo Das Shankar and Ashok Kumar.

Veterans Boonchu Ruangkit of Thailand and India’s Jyoti Randhawa were a further shot back with SSP Chowrasia, Siddikur of Bangladesh and Kunal Bhasin of Australia in the US$300,000 event sanctioned by the Asian Tour and PGTI.

Prom, who lost in a play-off to Anirban Lahiri at the SAIL-SBI Open last month, said it was a tough scoring day with the blustery conditions.

 “The wind made it very tricky. You need to try and keep the ball in play. The conditions of the course are very good. I know the course very well but I’m not going to take that for granted. Anyone can shoot a low score here. You need to stay patient out here,” said Prom, currently third on the Order of Merit.

 Barr made a brave comeback after opening with two straight bogeys and credited his strong mental resilience for his solid round.  “My temperament was pretty good after a bad start [two bogeys]. My highlight was probably keeping my mental game in check. Hopefully I can tidy it up and be around the leaderboard,” said Barr, who finished third at the Delhi Golf Club last month.

 Groom got off to a fast start with two straight birdies and hopes to keep the momentum going in his search for a first Asian Tour win.

 “This week is probably the trickiest I’ve seen the Delhi Golf Club because it is blowing. You need to be careful with your tee shots. I missed a couple of putts out there or I would have been three or four-under. I’m pretty happy with how I played,” said Groom

 

Westwood to defend title

World No 3 Lee Westwood will return to defend his Indonesian Masters title next month with major winners Michael Campbell and Ian Woosnam also in the field, organisers said.

The 21-time European Tour winner will raise the profile of the $750,000 event from April 19-22, which has also been boosted by securing a new title sponsor, CIMB Niaga bank.

Three-time Asian Tour number one Thongchai Jaidee and Indonesian star Rory Hie will also play the Asian Tour tournament at Royale Jakarta Golf Club, which falls two weeks after the US Masters at Augusta.

 

Poulter to play in Spain

Ian Poulter will defend his World Match Play Championship title in southern Spain next month after confirming his place in the tournament’s 24-man field. 

Poulter defeated fellow Englishman Luke Donald 2 and 1 in the final last year to underline his reputation as one of the grittiest matchplay performers on the circuit. 

The 36-year-old Poulter said yesterday that “with the fact that it’s a Ryder Cup year, I think it will be even more exciting this year with every match from the group stages to the final a chance for aspiring team members to impress Europe captain Jose Maria Olazabal.” 

The tournament will be staged at the Finca Cortesin course near Malaga from May 17-20.