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Park tames strong winds to lead in Indonesia

JAKARTA (Reuters) - Australian Unho Park put himself in position to claim a first Asian Tour title after surviving the stiff winds in Jakarta on Friday to lead the Indonesian Masters by one shot at the halfway stage. The 40-year-old South Korean-born golfer fired a one-over-par round of 73 on Friday to sit at four-under for the $750,000 (£495,704) tournament, one of only a handful of players under par following a tough day at the Royal Jakarta Golf Club. One of those was former world number one Lee Westwood, who celebrated his 42nd birthday by shooting a 74 to sit seventh at one-under. Both Park and Westwood enjoyed slightly better conditions on Friday morning and watched as their names rose further up the leaderboard as the afternoon starters struggled their way around with tricky pin placements not helping. Joint overnight leaders Thomas Bjorn and Chan Shih-chang had begun the day at six-under but they quickly fell down the leaderboard. Taiwan's Chan recovered on his back nine, chipping in for eagle on his 18th to sign for a 75 to sit second on three-under, but Dane Bjorn struggled with the short stick and missed numerous puts from close range in slumping to a 76. Bjorn's card smartened up with back-to-back birdies to finish his round, including a neat chip in on the 17th, to sit two strokes behind the leader. Former U.S. PGA champion Yang Yong-eun was one of few players to shoot under-par in the second round, firing a 71 to sit four shots back of Park. (Writing by Patrick Johnston in Singapore; editing by Sudipto Ganguly)