Advertisement

Westwood takes lead in Indonesian Masters

Lee Westwood of England looks on after playing a shot during the third round of the 750,000 USD CIMB Niaga Indonesian Masters golf tournament at the Royale Jakarta Golf Club in Jakarta on April 25, 2015

England's former number one Lee Westwood stormed ahead to snatch the third round lead with a seven-under-par 65 at the CIMB Niaga Indonesian Masters on Saturday. Westwood cut a frustrated figure in his front-nine but an astonishing back-nine 29 saw him compile a three-day total of eight-under-par 208 to establish a five-shot lead going into the final round at the Royale Jakarta Golf Club. Thailand's Namchok Tantipokhakul carded a 71 to tie for second with Denmark's Thomas Bjorn and South Korea's Y.E. Yang on 213 at the $750,000 Asian Tour event. It was a tale of two different nines for Westwood, the double CIMB Niaga Indonesian Masters champion, who had started the day in seventh place. A stunning eagle-three on 12 lifted the world number 33 to the top of the leaderboard. Five successive birdies from 13 then saw him sprint away from the chasing pack, giving him a commanding advantage before the final round beckons. With a hat-trick of titles in sight, Westwood is determined to come on top on his visit to Jakarta. "I've been here twice and I won both times so I like to keep that going. I've never been beaten before so I'm going in with a big chance tomorrow," he said. Despite Westwood's healthy lead, Bjorn believes he still has a chance to dent the Englishman's title aspirations. "I haven't been playing particularly well. But I managed to scramble my way around. It's very much in his hands but I'll still give a go and see how it goes," the Dane said. Leading scores after round three of the CIMB NIAGA Indonesian Masters (par 72): 208 - Lee Westwood (ENG) 69-74-65 213 - Y.E. Yang (KOR) 73-71-69, Thomas Bjorn (DEN) 66-76-71, Namchok Tantipokhakul (THA) 69-73-71 214 - Kalle Samooja (FIN) 69-76-69 215 - Thitiphun Chuayprakong (THA) 71-77-67, Khalin Joshi (IND) 71-76-68, Bryce Easton (RSA) 73-77-65, Kalem Richardson (AUS) 75-70-70, Wang Jeung-Hun (KOR) 74-71-70, Yosuke Tsukada (JPN) 71-71-73, Chapchai Nirat (THA) 68-74-73, Chan Shih-chang (TPE) 66-75-74 Selected scores: 216 - Unho Park (AUS) 67-73-76