Asian qualifying for the British open

Malaysia's Danny Chia will make his second appearance at the British Open this July after carding a three-under-par 69 for the second successive round at Asia's International Final Qualifying tournament on Wednesday.

The 35-year-old sank crucial birdie putts on the 16th and 17th at the Sentosa Golf Club to lead all qualifiers on six-under-par 138, securing a second trip to the sport's oldest major after playing in the 2005 Open at St. Andrews.

Chia, who won the Taiwan Open in 2002, will be teeing off at Royal Birkdale on July 17 along with Australia's Adam Blyth, Singapore's Lam Chih Bing and Angelo Que of the Philippines as the four qualifiers from the 64-player field.

"I didn't putt well today but I played good," Chia told reporters.

"I played within myself and made two birdies coming back when I needed them the most.

"It's going to be very exciting to go back to the Open. I was there in 2005 and hopefully I've learned from that and will use it in Royal Birkdale."

Blyth, who will be appearing at his first major, fired a bogey-free 66 to finish a shot behind Chia, while Que and Lam emerged from a three-man playoff after signing for two-day totals of 140 in a share of third place.

"The putts just went in today," the 26-year-old Blyth said.

"I played scrappy yesterday but managed to get myself into position this morning. I'm stoked to get into my first major."

Asian qualifying for the open

Malaysian golfer Danny Chia, Angelo Que of the Philippines and England's Yasin Ali shared a three-way tie for the lead after day one of Asia's International Qualifying for the 2008 Open.

Chia, an Asian Tour regular, sank six birdies against three bogeys at Singapore's Sentosa Golf Club on his way to a three-under-par 69 on Tuesday while Que enjoyed five birdies.

Ali had been clear of the field as he stood on the 18th tee at five-under but found water with a drive which led to a double bogey.

Just behind them, Filipino Antonio Lascuna, Ben Leong of Malaysia, who scored a hole-in-one, and Japanese duo Tomohiro Kondo and Keiichiro Fukabori shot 70s to stay in the hunt for the four tickets at stake to The Open at Royal Birkdale, England in July at the two-day qualifier.

Ali chose to look to the positive, despite his disappointing finish.

"I played pretty solid except for a few loose shots. The shots I dropped today were water balls. If I can keep out of the water, I should be okay," he told the Asian Tour's Web site www.asiantour.com.

"It'll be awesome if I can qualify for the oldest major that we have. But with four spots available, you never know what the guys can shoot. You just try to make as many birdies as you can and total it up at the end of the day."

Qualifying events are held on five continents, with Africa and Australasia competitions already completed. The United States will host one in Michigan starting June 30, with another at Sunningdale, England getting underway the same day.