Teenage sensation Noh Seung-yul stayed on course for a wire-to-wire win in the Kolon Korea Open, shooting a one-under-par 70 for a five-stroke lead. The 19-year-old South Korean, who finished 28th at the PGA Championship in August, is on a nine-under total of 204 after three rounds at the OneAsia event at Woo Jeong Hills Country Club in Cheonan, South Korea.
California-schooled Kim Bi-o, 20, shot a best-of-day 66 to move to four-under, one ahead of Kang Sung-hoon and two clear of Choi Ho-sung.
Bae Sang-moon’s hat-trick bid continued with a 70 that put him one-under and tied fifth with Canadian Ron Harvey.
New Zealander Michael Hendry, who won OneAsia’s Indonesia Open in July, carded a 70 to share seventh at even-par, while Volvo China Open champion Y.E. Yang was a shot further behind after a 69.
Noh, the world’s fourth-highest ranked South Korean, started the round four clear of Kang and pulled away with birdies on one, eight and nine, offset by a bogey on four.
Although he wobbled late on with bogeys on 16 and 17, he rallied with a birdie on the par-five 18th.
DUNHILL LINKS
REUTERS, ST ANDREWS, SCOTLAND
In-form Briton John Parry sprinted four shots clear of the field after the Dunhill Links Championship second round on Friday.
Swede Martin Erlandsson was second on 136 after a four-under 68 at Carnoustie. Briton Ross Fisher (68) and Martin Kaymer (69) of Germany, members of Europe’s triumphant Ryder Cup team last week, tied for third on 137 with Spaniard Alvaro Quiros (69).
Graeme McDowell (68) of Britain, who claimed the winning point for Europe against the US, was alone in sixth spot on 138.
World No. 2 Lee Westwood, struggling with a troublesome ankle injury, was back on 142 after a 72 while European Ryder Cup captain Colin Montgomerie carded a second successive 72.
The 23-year-old Parry, who won last month’s Vivendi Cup in France, shot a seven-under 65 in misty conditions on the Old Course at St Andrews to finish on 12-under 132 in the US$5 million pro-am event.
MCGLADREY CLASSIC
REUTERS, ATLANTA, GEORGIA
Late-season specialist David Toms had a one-shot lead over fellow American Joe Durant after the second round of the McGladrey Classic at St Simon’s Island in Georgia on Friday.
Two other Americans, Rich Barcelo and Heath Slocum, are tied for third at eight-under-par 132, while the highest placed foreign player is Sweden’s Mathias Gronberg who is tied for fifth at seven-under with Brian Gay.
Louisiana native Toms is looking for his first top 10 finish of the season and his first win since 2006.
NAVISTAR LPGA
AP, PRATTVILLE, ALABAMA
Japan’s Mika Miyazato shot a 9-under 63 on Friday for a share of the second-round lead in the Navistar LPGA Classic with Na Yeon-choi and Cristie Kerr.
Taiwan’s Amy Hung shot a 71 for a two-under 142, while compatriot Candie Kung missed the cut after a 74 left her on seven-over 151.
Winless in 40 career LPGA Tour starts, the 20-year-old Miyazato had five straight birdies on the front nine and four in a row on the back nine in her bogey-free round that matched the course record on the links-style Senator layout at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail’s Capitol Hill complex.
“Everything was going inside my zone,” Miyazato said through a translator. “Everything was going the way that I wanted it to.”
Choi birdied the final four holes for a 64, and Kerr shot a 67 to match Miyazato at 12 under.
Brittany Lincicome (66) was a stroke back.
Miyazato won the Japan Women’s Open last week and is coming off her best LPGA Tour performance, a third-place finish in the NW Arkansas Championship on Sept. 12.
In 2004, she won the Japan Amateur Women’s Championship at the age of 14 to become the youngest winner in the history of the event. She turned professional last year, bypassing the Japan LPGA for the LPGA Tour.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY STAFF WRITER
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