Golf: Westwood takes lead in Indonesian Masters

Golf: Westwood takes lead in Indonesian Masters

JAKARTA - 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

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