Puchong: Sukree Othman neared a third Professional Golf of Malaysia (PGM) title on Friday, carding a sizzling third round of seven-under 65 to extend his lead at the I&P Kinrara Classic to seven strokes.
The 35-year-old, who shot a course record of nine-under 63 yesterday, continued his putting masterclass at Kinrara Golf Club today as he put some daylight between him and second-placed Nicholas Fung, who posted a battling 70 for a 54-hole total of 12-under-par 204 in the RM125,000 tournament.
Another Sabahan, Ben Leong also made his way up the leaderboard with a blemish-free 66, highlighted by an eagle on the par-five seventh sandwiched either side by a pair of birdies, to take over from Danny Chia, who slipped to five-under-par for the tournament with a two-over 74. A further shot back in fifth was Shaaban Hussin (70).
Playing with Fung on the final flight out this morning, Sukree got into gear quickly, trading an eagle on the seventh and six birdies against a sole bogey on the third as he raced ahead to make the turn on 30.
The Kelantan Classic winner then drained four consecutive birdies from the 11th to move ten shots clear at the top before giving back three shots at the 15th, 17th and the closing hole to settle for a three-round aggregate of 19-under-par 197.
Sukree admitted that he was glad to have chalked up a healthy advantage before fatigue set in, resulting in a poor finish. “I thought yesterday was just one of those days but I started well and I kept charging as the birdies dropped,” said Sukree, who is still nursing a fever and cold.
“I’ve always enjoyed playing at this layout as it suits my game and my new [TaylorMade Ghost Manta] putter has been very responsive this week, so I was confident of doing well from the word ‘go’. Towards the end, I was not feeling too well and began to tire, which led to a lost of concentration and some errant drives,” added the Kota Permai resident professional, who nonetheless expressed his confidence of turning up at his best tomorrow.
“I haven’t given any thought of breaking the record,” smiled Sukree, when asked about the 22-under-par winning total set by American Jonathan Moore at the Impian Classic last year – the biggest winning total in the history of the burgeoning domestic circuit.
“It is important to pace myself tomorrow and keep my gameplan intact. I cannot concede any ground as my challengers will be ready to pounce at any sign of weakness,” warned Sukree.
Leading third round scores (top ten & ties)
197 – Sukree Othman 69-63-65
204 – Nicholas Fung 65-69-70
208 – Ben Leong 70-72-66
211 – Danny Chia 72-65-74
212 – Shaaban Hussin 71-71-70
213 – Mohd Iszaimi Ismail 71-72-70
214 – Airil Rizman Zahari 75-69-70
215 – Jeremiah Kim 68-78-69; R. Nachimuthu 72-72-71; Dinata Abdillah 72-72-71
216 – P. Gunasegaran 73 -70-73; Md Rashid Ismail 71-71-74
217 – Mohd Nazri Mohd Zain 71-75-71; Haziq Hamizan 75-69-73; Akhmal Tarmizee 73-71-73; M. Sasidaran 72-71-74
