Stolz Confident as Murphy Misses China

Andre Stolz

Andre Stolz of Australia is gunning for another OneAsia win after taking home the Indonesia PGA Championship title on the Tour's season-opening event last month.

The seasoned professional continues his amazing comeback this year after having battled a career-threatening wrist injury from 2005, and is looking forward to playing against the region's leading players from OneAsia as well as the best of the European Tour at next week's US$3 million Volvo China Open.

“I am looking forward to a big year. I’ve come back with a different attitude to golf after my injury and I enjoy it more now instead of putting too much pressure on myself," said Stolz.

"I want to go out and have fun and work hard, and win more tournaments this year."

The 40-year-old had his confidence boosted last month in Jakarta when he took home the winner's cheque of US$180,000.

"I have been playing well for quite a while now. To finally win after all the hard work put in... That's the biggest thing and I feel happy to finally have been able to do that.”

Having played the 2010 Luxehills Chengdu Open, OneAsia's season-opener last year, Stolz is also eager to return to a familiar venue at Luxehills International Country Club from April 21-24.

“I was playing pretty good at Luxehills on the first day last year but it got very cold on the second day and I struggled to adapt so I ended up missing the cut by one or two shots,” he recalled.

"I really liked the course though and it's a course I can see myself winning on. I'm just happy I will be there one month later than last year so hopefully the weather will be better. I've been checking on the temperature in Chengdu every day!"

Stolz hopes to live out one of his life's dreams next week, by taking home the title on the European co-sanctioned event.

“One of my goals as a young professional was to win on every tour in the world. I’ve actually won on pretty much every Tour in the world now, except for the European Tour. So if I win next week that will finish off my list. I'm very excited about that."

Stolz, along with compatriots Kim Felton and Scott Strange, will lead the Australian Challenge in Chengdu next week.

Triple Major Champion Padriag Harrington and Spanish star Sergio Garcia will both join the contenders in the Volvo China Open.

Other OneAsia winners from last season, China's Liang Wenchong, Kiwi Michael Hendry, defending champion Y.E. Yang and Kim Dae-hyun of Korea, also feature in a strong line-up.

OneAsia Tour School graduate, Gary Murphy, is outside the entry list and does not have an exemption for the VOLVO China Open.

Andrea Stolz Wins OneAsia Indonesia PGA

Andre Stolz

Andre Stolz of Australia, who came out of retirement just two years ago, recorded an emotional triumph in the US$1 million Indonesia PGA Championship on Sunday after the 40 year old fired a final round four-under-par 68 for a winning total of 14-under-par 274.

Overnight leader Rory Hie from Indonesia carded a 72 to finish alone in second place one shot behind Stolz at Imperial Klub Golf.

New Zealander Gareth Paddison and Park Eun-shin from Korea finished one stroke further back in the season-opening event on OneAsia. 

Local fans were disappointed that 22-year-old Hie was unable to close the deal but they were delighted to see Stolz win after having a torrid time in recent years. 

Stolz was one of his country’s finest players before a wrist problem had a profound effect on his career.

He has won one title on each the US PGA Tour, Nationwide Tour, and Japan Tour plus tasted victory four times on the PGA Tour of Australasia. 

However, in 2005 a nagging wrist injury caused by wear and tear forced him into retirement for nearly three years. He gradually started to play again and rejoined the Tour in Australia in 2008. 

In 2009 he won the Victorian PGA Championship but his win this week, worth a cool US$180,000, emphatically announced his return to the top flight.

“A couple of years ago I thought I would never play again and now I am standing here with a trophy for a US$1million event. It will take some time to sink in,” said Stolz, whose wife Cathy was caddying for him.

Stolz won the 2004 Michelin Championship in Las Vegas on the US PGA Tour and more victories were expected to come until his injury.

“I had to completely remodel swing. The second half of last year I started to play really well and this week I played great but the putter was misbehaving,” added the Australian, who turned professional in 1992.

His putting came good at the correct time though when he rammed in a 35 foot birdie putt on 17 and holed an eight footer for birdie on the last.

Hie, playing in the final pairing behind Stolz, also birdied the last two holes but he lost his chance of winning when he bogeyed the 10th, double bogeyed the 11th and bogeyed the 12th.

“I really thought this was going to be my week. I had prepared so hard. However, I am proud of the way I finished the round and this final day has been a great learning experience,” said Hie, who won US$102,000.

He was helped by the fact that he knows the course like the back of his hand. He claimed The International Championship at Imperial in 2008 on the ASEAN PGA Tour just months after turning professional.

Hie played for the University of Southern California and at one point was ranked sixth best amateur in the world. The talented golfer attended college for two years and then opted to leave prematurely as he felt he was ready for the professional game.

Thailand’s Thaworn Wiratchant finished fifth after shooting a 70. He thrilled the crowds by holing his second shot for an eagle on the 17th.

China’s Liang Wenchong, the reigning OneAsia Order of Merit champion, ended in a tie for 28th place after closing with a 76.

The next event on OneAsia is the Volvo China Open at Luxehills International Country Club from April 21st  to 24th.

Indonesia PGA Champion Result

Local Rory Hie Takes Round Three Lead

Rory Hie

Indonesia’s Rory Hie, carrying the weight of a nation’s expectations on his young shoulders, took the third round lead in the US$1 million Indonesia PGA Championship today.

The former US college star fired a third round five-under-par 67 for a three-round aggregate of 13-under-par 203 at Imperial Klub Golf, just outside Jakarta.

Australian Mathew Millar, the first and second round leader, carded a 71 and is in second place one stroke behind. He did well to stay in contention as he was suffering from a fever and headaches which started last night. 

In what is threatening to be a landmark week for golf in Indonesia a pumped up Hie nailed seven birdies to charge into the lead. A double bogey on the 13th saw him fall one shot behind Millar but then the Australian finished badly with bogeys on 14 and 18.

The 22 year old is being helped by the fact that he knows the course like the back of his hand. He claimed The International Championship at Imperial in 2008 on the ASEAN PGA Tour just months after turning professional.

He earned a cheque for US$8,126 on that occasion but first place this week is worth a juicy US$180,000.

Victory tomorrow would be far away and the biggest achievement by an Indonesian in the game of golf.

Kasiadi, the former caddie from Surabaya, triumphed in the 1989 Indonesia Open, and the country’s top amateurs have a fine record in the Southeast Asian Amateur Team Championship for the Putra Cup but nothing would come close to a Hie victory this week. 

“This has been a really special week. The crowds have been fantastic. I am feeling very calm and focusing on breathing exercises between shots. I have prepared really well for this tournament and it has paid off. I am playing aggressive golf and plan to do the same tomorrow,” said Hie, whose father Tommy is caddying for him.

Hie played for the University of Southern California and at one point was ranked sixth best amateur in the world. The talented golfer attended college for two years and then opted to leave prematurely as he felt he was ready for the professional game.

Despite winning in 2008 he found life as a professional very difficult. He was dogged by injuries including problems with right leg and also got an eye irritation. Such problems are now well and truly in the past. 

Millar, aged 34, had a two shot lead at the start of the day.

“My game was not too good today. I didn’t have a good rhythm. I was down with a fever and I had a really low energy level. I’m feeling better now but I’m still tired and aching all over. It affected my game.

Hopefully, I will feel better tomorrow. My game plan is to do what I’ve been doing for the past two days, hit more fairways in regulation… and make more putts,” said Millar.

Andre Stolz from Australia and Korean Park Eun-shin are joint third two shots off the lead. They returned rounds of 69 and 66 respectively.

Thailand’s Thaworn Wiratchant, winner of the Indonesia Open in 2005, stormed into contention with a 66 and is four back for Hie.

China’s Liang Wenchong, winner of last year’s OneAsia Order of Merit, carded a 71 and is five adrift of top spot.

Matthew Millar Holds Indonesia PGA Lead

Matthew Millar 

Matthew Millar held the lead on day two at the Indonesia PGA Championship on Friday with a two-under-par 70 at the Imperial Klub Golf in Jakarta to card a total of11-under-par and holds a two shot margin over of fellow Austrlian, Matthew Griffin, who signed for a second round of 69.

Millar shot a course record 63 on the first day of the firts event in the 2011 OneAsia season.

“It was all right but I did not play that well today to be honest,” he said. “I had some loose shots here and there.

“For some reason it is very hard to follow a really low round with another one. You’d think you would be able to follow up by shooting at least three under but I am not disappointed with two under. I holed some good putts again.”


The 34-year-old made four birdies and two bogeys to put himself in a great position to produce his finest tournament performance since turning professional in 2002.

Griffin is also looking for his first win as a professional.

“I gave myself a heap of chances and should have finished a lot lower. I am really disappointed to finish bogey, bogey. I three-putted eight and on nine I hit in the water off the tee,” said Griffin.

The Australian, who turned professional in 2008 finished second in the Victorian Open this year which was first event of the season in Australia.

One of the highlights of the week so far has been the performance of young Indonesian Rory Hie. He is in joint third place with China’s Wu Ashun.

Hie, 22, fired his second 68 on a course where he won his first title as a professional The International Championship on the ASEAN PGA Tour in 2008. He is three strokes behind Millar.

“I always have good vibes coming here. I also finished second here last year in a local event when I shot 12 under and I shot 10 under when I won here,” said Hie, who played college golf for the University of Southern California.”

Wu is another youngster impressing this week after returning a 67.

The 25-year-old said: “I am satisfied with my game today. I played pretty well these two days, but it could have been better if not for the two bogies that I made — that was bad judgement.”

Liang Wenchong, the pre-tournament favourite who won the OneAsia Order of Merit last year with two victories, shot a 67 to sit on the shoulder of the leader four shots back.

Leader board Round 2

Millar Leads OneAsia Indonesia PGA R1

Matthew Millar

Matthew Millar of Australia shot a round of 63 on Thursday to take an early lead in the Indonesia PGA Championship, breaking the course record with his nine-under-par score to finish three shots clear of fellow Australian Matthew Griffin, who carded a 66 at Imperial Klub Golf, outside Jakarta, in the $1 million season opening tournament for OneAsia.

Hiroshi Iwata of Japan and Australians Andre Stolz and Chris Campbell shot 67s on the par 72 course.

"I am very, very happy with that. Played really well up until the last hole where I had a complete misunderstanding with my caddie which was my fault," said Millar.

"I took the wrong club and the wrong line. I was lucky not to go into the water and was pleased to make par," added the 34-year-old.

Millar carded 10 birdies including six in a row from the sixth.

At 10 under after 14 he looked set to clear the round with a 59 but he made his only bogey of the day on the 15th.

"I have been playing pretty well recently but the last couple of days I wouldn't say it was really on or anything," he said.

"I have never shot 10 under before and on the last three or four holes that definitely got in the way a little bit."

"You are not really supposed to think about your score but I had it to 10 under and the pressure was on. I have shot nine under probably a dozen times now. It is a bit disappointing not to get to 10," he added.

Griffin, ranked the number three amateur in the world before turning professional in 2008, also toured the front nine in six-under-par 30 with four birdies and an eagle on the ninth.

China's Liang Wenchong, who won twice last year on his way to winning the OneAsia Order of Merit, fired a 70.

Thailand's Prayad Marksaeng and Michael Hendry from New Zealand, winner of last year's Indonesia Open, also carded 70s.

Thaworn Wiratchant from Thailand, Australian Kim Felton and Korea's Bae Sang-moon returned 71s.

Korean star Kim Dae-hyun was the only top player to struggle and surprisingly came in with a 78.

Rory Hie ended the day as the leading Indonesian after a 68 on the course where he won The International Championship on the ASEAN PGA Tour in 2008.

The Indonesia PGA Championship is the first of 13 events in the 2011 OneAsia season.

Leader board Round 1

Gary Murphy Remains Indonesia Alternate

Gary Murphy 

Gary Murphy qualified earlier in the year for the 2011 OneAsia Tour but remains an alternate for the first event in Jakarta this week at the Indonesia PGA Championship.

China’s Liang Wenchong who also begins his new season determined to lay a ghost to rest.

The Chinese star always plays to win and he has shown that by tasting victory three times on OneAsia. He also claimed last year’s Order of Merit title with winnings of US$560,736.

However, when he was in Jakarta last year despite being the hot favourite to win the Indonesia Open presented by Enjoy Jakarta he was relegated to second place by Michael Hendry from New Zealand. 

“I was one shot behind him after three rounds and was confident I could catch up on the last day but he played brilliantly and beat me by seven shots. It was quite a shock and now that I am back in Jakarta I would like to make up for that by winning,” said Liang.

The 32-year-old claimed the Midea China Classic in 2009, and last year triumphed in the Luxehills Chengdu Open and the Thailand Open. 

The season opening US$1 million Indonesia PGA Championship is being played at Imperial Klub Golf just outside Jakarta and Liang is raring to get started.

“I had pretty decent practice rounds. I am glad to be back here in Jakarta – the weather is good and the course is great. I am happy to be here as it is OneAsia’s season opening tournament, and I hope to have a perfect start. Being OneAsia’s Order of Merit winner, I hope to inspire more young golfers in China to participate and perform well in OneAsia’s tournaments so as not to disappoint all the people who have helped build up the golf industry in China,” said Liang.

He plans to play as many events possible on this year’s OneAsia schedule which boasts 13 tournaments which all boast prize money of over US$1 million.

“This is definitely the strongest field that OneAsia has had. There are some incredibly good players especially from Korea,” added Liang.

Bae Sang-moon and Kim Dae-hyun, the two young Koreans who many expect to rocket to stardom are competing. Bae has claimed two titles on OneAsia winning the Korean Open in 2009 and last year’s SK Telecom Open. Kim triumphed in the 2010 GS Caltex Maekyung Open and was also was runner-up to Liang on the Order of Merit.

This week provides them both with an opportunity to show they can win away from home.

“We need more experience playing overseas and we have come here to prove we can also win outside of Korea. We are really excited to be here and it would be great to see a Korean winner,” said Bae.

Australia’s Scott Strange, a two-time winner on the European Tour including the OneAsia joint-sanctioned Volvo China Open in 2009, and also OneAsia's 2009 Order of Merit winner, is also playing as is countryman Kim Felton and Hendry.

Thailand greats Thaworn Wiratchant and Prayad Marksaeng, who have amassed a total of 21 titles between them in the region, are also in the field.

Thaworn, like Liang a former Asian number one, has won 12 times on the Asian circuit and Prayad has a combined nine titles on the Asian and Japan Tours.

Amongst the other notables in the line-up are Major champion Wayne Grady of Australia, winner of the 1990 US PGA Championship, and teen prodigy Han Chang-won of Korea, the 2009 Asian Amateur champion who will make his eagerly awaited professional tournament debut. Han was victorious in this year’s OneAsia qualifying school.

Liang will play with Bae and Grady while Kim has been paired with Hendry and Thaworn.

As a mark of respect for the recent tragedy in Japan, the players will be wearing black ribbons.

Four Japanese players are competing Takuya Taniguchi, Akio Sadakata, Tomokazu Yoshinaga, and Hiroshi Iwata.

Imperial Klub Golf is one of Jakarta’s premier golf courses and boasts a championship course designed by British architect Desmond Muirhead.