Subang: Malaysia will bank its hopes on Gavin Kyle Green when he heads into the final round of the DRB-Hicom Malaysian Amateur Open tomorrow with a three-shot advantage over Thailand’s Poom Saksansin – setting up a mouth-watering battle royale for the Sir Charles Warren trophy.
The 18-year-old University of New Mexico freshman posted a concrete three-under-par 69 at Glenmarie GCC on Saturday for a three-day overall of 206, to brighten the chance of the coveted itle remaining in Malaysian hands for the first time since Nachimuthu Ramasamy (now a professional) claimed the prestigious championship 15 years ago at Kelab Golf Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah.
Former 100Plus Malaysian Junior Open champion Poom matched Green’s effort on the day, totalling seven-under-par 209 while another of the country’s United States-based nationals, Arie Irawan Ahmad Fauzi, was three shots back in third after firing his first sub-60 round of the week with a four-under 68 alongside Indonesian’s Rinaldi Adiyandono.
Taking a share of fifth place on 214 was Indonesia’s Jordan Surya Irawan and first round leaderOliver Goss of Australia, who carded rounds of 71 and 72 respectively.
Green, who only arrived in Kuala Lumpur on the eve of tournament, was a picture of consisteny despite still feeling jet-lagged, draining seven birdies in a near flawless round with his only blemish of the day coming at the ninth, when he dropped a double bogey.
“I think I played pretty well, hit my irons good and didn’t steer into too much of trouble but definitely disappointed with the ninth, where I four-putted. It was bound to happen as I was trying to sustain the pressure from Poom, so in one way, I am glad that it happened today instead of tomorrow,” said the long-hitting Green.
“Healthy lead for tomorrow but I’m not going to change my game plan. I did feel a bit of fatigue setting in towards the end, so hopefully we will have some good weather tomorrow and I can tie up the loose ends,” confided the stocky amateur, who acknowledged that while the pressure of ending a 15-year domestic drought will be on tomorrow, he is nonetheless more focused on playing his own game to seal the deal.
The top-ranked Thai in the field, Poom got off to a hot start with an eagle and two birdies in the opening four holes to move level with the local favourite but slipped back with two bogeys to make the turn on 34. The 19-year-old then mixed two birdies with a bogey on the inward nine to remain in contention.
“It was a good finish for me today,” said Poom, who also claimed the Putra Cup individual title at Royal Selangor Golf Club in 2010. “I know that I can strike back with a good round on Sunday as my goal was to shoot sub-par rounds everyday,” he added.
Arie expressed his confidence of maintaining a strong finish tomorrow. “Carding a 68 after battling to two rounds of even-par 72s will give me a huge confidence boost ahead of the final round action tomorrow,” said the 21-year-old University of Tulsa senior.
Leading third round scores (Malaysian unless stated)
206 – Gavin Kyle Green 72-65-69
209 – Poom Saksansin (THA) 69-71-69
212 – Arie Irawan Ahmad Fauzi 72-72-68; Rinaldi Adiyandono (INA)70-73-69
214 – Jordan Irawan (INA) 72-71-71; Oliver Goss (AUS) 68-74-72
215 – Khalin H Joshi (IND) 71-71-73; Chan Tuck Soon 70-72-73
217 – Natipong Srithong (THA) 72-74-79
220 – Chieh-Po Lee (TPE) 79-72-69
