Kota Kinabalu, Sabah: Nicholas Fung continues to lead the RM200,000 Professional Golf of Malaysia (PGM) Sabah Classic despite seeing his advantage on top of the leaderboard reduced to two strokes after struggling in blustery conditions during the third round today.
The 21-year-old Kota Kinabalu native scrapped to a round of one over par 73 for a four under 140 total while two-time winner on the PGM Tour, Danny Chia stayed in touch with a second consecutive 71 to raise a mouth-watering final round clash tomorrow at the Sabah Golf & Country Club.
PGM Terengganu Classic winner Shaaban Hussin is seven shots off the lead with a total of three 0ver 219 after a round of 73 himself while fast-improving Haziq Hamizan and S. Sivachandhran carded matching 74s to lie fourth and fifth respectively on 219 and 220.
S. Murthy (72), who was among three players to card an even par and better score today, took a share of sixth place alongside R. Nachimuthu (74) on 222.
Fung, who is aiming for his first win on the burgeoning PGM Tour, failed to make headway in the windy conditions on his home course, mixing three birdies against four bogeys to card his first round in the blue all week. “My game today is quite good except for the wind,” said the reserved golfer who plies his trade on OneAsia.
Chia, on the other hand, is aiming for his third PGM title and will look to overtake Order of Merit leader Md Rashid Ismail, who he trails by little over RM12,000. “You just have to be patient in these conditions. I’ll probably stick to my normal game and try to be on the safe side,” shared Chia.
Despite a hot start which saw him drain two birdies and an eagle in his first three holes, Shaaban finds himself with an uphill task to make up the deficit tomorrow after a bogey-strewn back nine of 41.“I could have been in a better positions if not for the bad back nine today,” said Shaaban.
The champion flies home with a sum of RM33,600 tomorrow. Jeremiah Kim was the best placed amateur after 54-holes with a total of 16 over 232.
Leading third round scores
212 Nicholas Fung 67-72-73
214 Danny Chia 72-71-71
219 Shaaban Hussin 71-75-73
220 Haziq Hamizan 71-75- 76
221 S. Sivachandhran 74-73-74
222 S. Murthy 76-74-72; R. Nachimuthu 75-73-74
223 Akhmal Tarmizee 71-77-75
224 Iylia Jamil 75-7079
225 Ben Leong 72-71-82
