Kang well placed for South China treble

Kang Wook-soon is becoming accustomed to setting benchmarks. And as he closes in on what would be an unprecedented South China treble at the US$200,000 Macau Open the unassuming South Korean admits it's a role he relishes.

Thanks to his tumultuous triumphs in last November's Perrier Hong Kong Open at Fanling and the Omega PGA Championship at Clearwater Bay, Kang secured the Asian PGA's 1998 Order of Merit crown.

Not only was he the first man to achieve that feat twice, but also he became the first player to win back-to-back events on the Asian PGA Tour.

Courtesy of a battling two-under-par 69 at the Macau Golf & Country Club yesterday, Kang is menacingly poised in joint second spot with Lee Westwood at the halfway stage of the fourth leg of the 1999 circuit.

With identical 36-hole aggregates of 135, seven under, Kang and Westwood are one stroke off the pace being set by Taiwan's Michael Chang Tse-peng, who needed just 25 putts in compiling a course record 65, which included an eagle-three at the second and an outrageous, curling 50-footer at his final hole, the ninth.

Despite being, by his own admission, well below his best, Westwood followed up his opening 66 with a 69 to remain on level terms with Kang, his co-first-round leader.

'I didn't feel on top form. Physically I didn't feel great. I woke up very early [5.30 am] with jet-lag. The flight across [from Augusta] has caught up with me and I feel a bit sickly tired,' said Westwood, who displayed commendable resolve with three birdies in his final six holes.