Date: February 17, 2008
Author:

Pack chasing Aguilar

Felipe Aguilar refused to entertain thoughts of a maiden European Tour title despite maintaining his position at the top of the leaderboard at the end of the third round of the Indonesian Open. The 33-year-old followed up his eight-under-par 62 on Friday with a three-under 67 to lead the tournament by two strokes. New Zealander Mark Brown is the leading Australasian at 11-under, tied for sixth place alongside Chinese Taipei&aposs Wang Ter-chang, Thailand&aposs Prayad Marksaeng and unheralded Dutchman Joost Luiten. Australian Adam Blyth is a further stroke back with Englishman Philip Golding, Indian Arjun Atwal and Austrian Martin Wiegele. While admitting it was not his best performance so far in Jakarta, Aguilar was still able to keep his grip on the lead with a steady round, highlighted by an impressive eagle on the par-five ninth. The Chilean found the back of the green with a five wood on his approach shot then coolly sunk the putt to ensure he kept ahead of the chasing pack. But Aguilar refused to make any rash predictions on the outcome of Sunday&aposs final round. “We will know after 18 holes tomorrow,” he said. “I really hope it is me but you can never tell with this game, nothing is for sure.” “I didn&apost strike the ball as solid today as I did yesterday but overall it was a good round.” “I had a couple of lip outs on the first few holes but after that I managed to stick to the strategy and the game plan of hitting fairways and greens and letting the club do the talking.” Jeev Milkha Singh of India and 2007 Asia Order of Merit winner Liang Wen-chong were Aguilar&aposs nearest challengers after a 65 and 64, respectively, put them two strokes off the lead. And Singh confessed he would not let himself get distracted with how others performed in the final round as he looked to add to his two victories on the European Tour. “I am not even going to look at the leaderboard tomorrow,” he said. “I just want to go out there and do the same as I have been doing all week.” “Felipe has been playing great all week and Liang&aposs playing great as well.” “There are a lot of good players and the standards are so high these days.” “You have got to get the putter going and whoever does the best on the last day will take the trophy.” Third Round of the Enjoy Jakarta Astro Indonesia Open (Par 70): -16: Felipe Aguilar 65 62 67 -14: Jeev Milkha Singh 65 66 65, Liang Wen-Chong 65 67 64 -13: James Kamte 62 67 68, Prom Meesawat 66 63 68 -11: Mark Brown (New Zealand) 67 66 66, Joost Luiten 64 69 66, Prayad Marksaeng 65 65 69, Wang Ter-Chang 69 64 66 -10: Arjun Atwal 67 67 66, Adam Blyth (Australia) 66 67 67, Philip Golding 65 70 65, Martin Wiegele 65 65 70 -9: Chapchai Nirat 69 66 66, Chinnarat Phadungsil 69 64 68, Thaworn Wiratchant 67 67 67 -8: Robert Dinwiddie 69 66 67, Oliver Fisher 67 68 67, Scott Hend (Australia) 66 68 68, Bae Sang-Moon 71 68 63 Also: -7: Gary Simpson (Australia) 68 68 67 -6: Tony Carolan (Australia) 71 67 66, Scott Strange (Australia) 66 72 66 -3: David Bransdon 64 74 69, Matthew Millar (Australia) 70 69 68 -2: Scott Barr (Australia) 66 71 71, Marcus Both (Australia) 66 72 70 -1: Eddie Lee (New Zealand) 67 72 70, E: Adam Groom (Australia) 69 70 71, Kane Webber (Australia) 72 67 71 +2: Unho Park (Australia) 67 72 73