Unho Park and Scott Barr locked in final-round showdown
The stage is set for a final-round showdown at the Hong Kong Golf Club on Wednesday after Australia's Scott Barr joined compatriot Unho Park at the top of the leader board after the second round of the HK$450,000 Ageas HKPGA Championship.
Singapore-based Barr handled the windy conditions at Clearwater Bay Golf and Country Club better than anyone in the 69-man field, firing a 68 to match Park (70) on a two-round score of two-under. The duo hold a five-shot lead over Hong Kong's Wong Woon-man, who aced the par-three 16th.
One of the Asian Tour's most consistent performers over the past decade, Barr chipped in for birdie at the fourth before dropping shots at the sixth and seventh. Finding his rhythm on the closing nine, 41-year-old Barr bounced back with birdies at 13, 15 and 18.
"I was just trying to stay patient," said Barr, who memorably lost out to Colin Montgomerie in a play-off for the 2003 Macau Open.
"I fumbled a couple of holes early on but managed to make a few putts coming in, which is encouraging for tomorrow."
Despite being friends off the course, Barr admitted he would like nothing more than to deny Park a record-breaking third successive HKPGA Championship win.
"I'm out there to win," said Barr. "Unho and I have played a lot of golf together, and I can't control what he does, but if I can edge him it would be a great confidence boost for the rest of the season."
Park could make only one birdie, at the 18th, in his level-par round. "I couldn't hole any putts," bemoaned Park, who turned 40 last week. "I would have liked a cushion going into the final round but I'm still in a good position. I'm going to have my work cut out playing with Scott - it looks like it's going to be like a match-play situation so I hope to have a bit more luck back at Fanling."
Wong, who is hoping to become the first local winner of the championship since Dominique Boulet in 2004, holed out with his 7-iron from 166 yards at the 16th.
"I was very surprised as I didn't see it go in," said Wong, who won the 2010 HKPGA Order of Merit title. "I'm five shots back but I still feel like I have a chance. Unho and Scott are great players, so I'll need to be at my best to beat them."
