Johor Bahru, June 13: Mohd Rashid Ismail continued his gallant march towards his first victory on the burgeoning Professional Golf of Malaysia (PGM) Tour with a solid third round of three-under-par 69 to widen the gap at the top of the leaderboard at the RM150,000 PGM Johor Classic.
The 38-year-old Johorean extended his lead over Shaaban Hussin to six shots with a three-day total of 12-under-par 204 at the Johor Golf & Country Club.
Haziq Hamizan carded a 68 to move into tied third with Lim Eng Seng, who managed a 71 while five players including Mohd Iylia Jamil, who tumbled down the leaderboard with a 76 today, were in a tussle for fifth on three-under-par 213.
Rashid, who has two runner-up finishes at the PGM Kinrara Classic and PGM Clearwater Classic to show this year, registered another steady round to put himself in pole position for a win. He endured a mixed start, sandwiching a bogey on the fifth around birdies on third and seventh to finish the first nine on 35. A flawless back nine, highlighted by birdies on the 11th and 15th saw his coast to a massive lead.
“Just one more sweet day and I’m going home a happy man,” quipped Rashid, who’s last victory came at the 2007 PNB Kinrara Masters. “My back nine was a little better than my front nine as I re-discovered my touch with the driver but my putting didn’t let me down today and that’s really important to me,” he added, noting that he was confident of carding another sub-60 round tomorrow to claim the title on a high.
Shaaban made the turn on three-under to temporarily narrow the gap with Rashid but finds himself with an uphill task tomorrow after dropping three bogeys midway through the homeward nine. “Very glaring positives and negatives today.
“My front nine was really great with the eagle on fourth, followed up with a birdie. The back nine could have been better, I was a bit tired and ended up dropping three bogeys before claiming a consolation birdie on the last, ” said Shaaban.
“Anything can happen tomorrow, so I just want to remain steady and play my best shots in the final round,” he added.
Local Abel Tam remained the best of the three amateurs who survived the cut, despite dropping to four-over-par overall after a 75 today.
Leading third round scores
204 Md Rashid Ismail (66-69-69)
210 Shaaban Hussin (73-67-70)
212 Haziq Hamizan (72-72-68), Lim Eng Seng (72-69-71)
213 Ben Leong (72-73-68), Kenneth Tobuse (72-73-68), Sukree Othman (71-71-71), Hilmi Abdul Rahman (68-73-72), Iylia Jamil (68-69-76)
214 Airil Rizman Zahari (74-73-67), Shaifubari Muda (73-69-72), R. Nachimuthu (70-72-72), Khor Kheng Hwai (68-74-72)
