Kuching: Singapore’s Choo Tze Huang battled to a two-over-par 74 to take a slim one-shot lead over local hope Akhmal Tarmizee Nazari and Filipino duo Jhonnel Ababa and Charles Hong after the third round of the PGM Sarawak Masters on Saturday.S.Sivachandhran and Jeremiah Kim signed for a 73 and 74 respectively to share fifth place with England’s Peter Richardson (70) and Japan’s Mitsuhiko Hashizume (71) on 217.
The 25-year-old Choo, touted as one of the region’s rising stars, seemed to be coasting towards a comfortable lead at the Sarawak Golf Club before dropping three shots in as many holes in the RM180,000 (approximately US$60,000) Asian Development Tour event.
“I was doing well, and putting decent. But in the last three holes, I didn’t quite do it. It was a bad finish,” said Choo, who compiled a three-day total of one-under-par 215.
“The greens are tough to get close to as they are firm and quick. They are really challenging and you really need to be patient out there which I was today. I’m quite happy despite the finish,” added Choo.
With one round to go, Choo is hopeful he can secure his maiden title on the ADT which rewards the top-three finishers on the final Order of Merit with Asian Tour cards for the 2013 season.
“I’m happy with the way I’m playing in the last few weeks. I’ve played well in a couple of ADT events as I’ve been working really hard at my game. It seems to be paying off. I’m confident about tomorrow and hopefully, I can continue to play well and the putts will drop,” said Choo.
Ababa shot a solid round of 70, thanks to four birdies against two bogeys, to stay in the title hunt. “I hit it good on the front nine. I’m really happy. My birdies were from between five to 10 feet. This golf course is hard as it’s long and the greens are tough,” said Ababa, who finished third in the Bii Maybank ADT Challenge in Indonesia in July.
“I’m just going to enjoy the day tomorrow. I’ve won three local events on the Philippine Tour last year. But to do it tomorrow, I will need to drive the ball well as you can’t make mistakes here,” he said.
Hong, who held the overnight lead, posted a 76 after rounds of 71 and 69 while local hope, Akhmal returned with another 73 for a 216 total.
Leading third round scores
215 – Choo Tze Huang (SIN) 71-70-74
216 – Jhonnel Ababa (PHI) 75-71-70, Akhmal Tarmizee Nazari 70-73-73, Charles Hong (PHI) 71-69-76
217 – Peter Richardson (ENG) 75-72-70, Mitsuhiko Hashizume (JPN) 72-74-71, S. Sivachandhran 72-72-73, Jeremiah Kim 71-72-74
218 – Kenneth De Silva 71-75-72, Sukree Othman (MAS) 72-74-72, Michael Moore (AUS) 71-74-73, Airil Rizman Zahari 71-73-74
