Sat, Nov 20, 2010 page19

• Kang equals Hong Kong record

  • AFP, HONG KONG
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  Korean-born American Anthony Kang stunned spectators with a record-equaling nine-under-par second round which propelled him to the top of the leaderboard at the UBS Hong Kong Open, while a rare mid-afternoon earthquake rattled some players yesterday.

  The magnitude 2.8 tremor was felt across the former British colony’s rugged northern New Territories as many of Europe’s top golfers completed a tense second round at the Open.

  “I felt it on the 14th tee box and, to be honest, my legs were like jelly over the tee shot. [I’ve] never felt one of those before,” said world No. 10 Rory McIlroy, who was in a thrilling chase with England’s Ian Poulter for the -second-round lead in the US$2.5 million tournament.

  Meanwhile, 37-year-old Kang shot nine birdies to card 61 — his lowest ever score in pro golf — and put himself in pole position at the halfway point.

  “It was fun just getting it on the green and hitting a good putt and watching it go in the hole,” the Arizona-based father-of-two said. “It was just happening hole after hole and hopefully it will onwards. But I’m just very, very happy with what happened today.”

  The feat was in marked contrast to Kang’s slump last year, when he walked off the course after the first round at the Malaysian Open in Kuala Lumpur a shattered man, having shot a 74 after a disastrous back nine.

  Without a win since 2001, he said he feared for his career as he wept in his hotel room that night, but then produced a stunning form reversal over the next three days to claim the title.

  His 61 in Hong Kong — first achieved by Henrik Bjornstad in 2002 — puts Kang on 12-under going into the weekend. It is only the third time the score has been achieved and the second on a par 70 arrangement.

  A speech communication graduate, Kang has lived in the US since the age of 10. He says golf became a passion when his father gave him and his younger brother David, also a professional golfer, clubs when they were children.

  He is an expert at taekwondo and says the martial art has given him the mental discipline to perform under pressure.

  “When you’re in there just kind of grinding it out, hitting shot after shot, you forget the score and you just keep going,” he said.

  India’s Jeev Milkha Singh, whose birdie blitz on his outward nine sent him briefly to the top of the leaderboard, was behind Kang at 10-under.

  The Fanling course was once again drenched in sunlight, suggesting scoring will remain low for the second successive day after New Zealander Mark Brown shot an eight-under 62 in the first round to take the overnight lead.

  Singh — starting on the 10th — rattled off four birdies in his first five holes before adding another on the 17th to reach the turn at five under.

  The Indian, who is carrying a shoulder injury, dropped shots on the first and third holes but recovered with a birdie on the fourth to move onto three-under for the day and 10 under overall.

  “I think the back nine is the easier nine and started off really well,” he said. “I shot five-under and thought ‘let’s do the same on the front.’ I think I got ahead of myself, especially on the third hole ... management was wrong and I hit it in the water and made a bogey.”
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