Kajang, Selangor: Former national Akhmal Tarmizee Nazari took a big step towards securing his maiden Professional Golf of Malaysia (PGM) victory by taking a two-stroke lead into the final round of the PGM-Maybank Tour Players’ Championship.

The 23-year-old returned with a flawless four-under 68 on Friday, buoyed by a second consecutive eagle on the 17th at Impian Golf & Country Club to post a nine-under 207 and boost his chances of triumphing at the RM300,000 season finale.

Order of Merit contender Sukree Othman, currently ranked third on the Money List, took advantage of frontrunners’ slip to move into second on the back of a faultless five-under 67 while S. Sivachandran was a further shot back on six-under 210.

Four strokes off the lead were the trio of Danny Chia (68), Airil Rizman Zahari (68) and S. Murthy (70) with halfway leader R.Nachimuthu (74) tumbling down the leaderboard to take a share of seventh alongside Iylia Jamil on four-under 212, one shot ahead  of current Merit leader Nicholas Fung (72) of Sabah.

While all attention has been on the race for the Merit title, Akhmal has produced some of his best golf this year and is confident of ending his barren run since turning professional in 2009.

“I feel really good with my score today especially with the tough scoring conditions out there. I would say my hitting was fair but my putting didn’t let me down today. I even managed to miss two great birdie chances, which could have pushed me further ahead but I’m looking forward to tomorrow,” shared a confident Akhmal.

“I’ve come close a few times on Tour, especially when I settled for second behind Airil at the Lanjut Classic earlier this year, so definitely this tournament would be a great place to realise my potential and earn a start at next year’s Maybank Malaysian Open,” he added.

Sukree made a meal of moving day, draining five birdies in a flawless display to set himself nicely for a strong final push on Saturday. “Overall today, a lot of things worked in my favour. I don’t think my ball striking was that good as I’m still struggling to shake off a flu bug since I returned from Johor but my putter helped me out a lot.”

The 35-year-old understands that a victory tomorrow may well see him leapfrog Nicholas and Nachi on the Merit standings as well as guarantee him a start at the US$2.8 million national Open next year.

“I knew even before coming into this tournament that I had to win to give myself a chance. My fellow contenders may struggle today but anyone can shoot a good score and make ground tomorrow. I’m grateful for what I achieved this year but the Order of Merit championship

“I’ll be out there, playing my own game and trying to win the tournament but its going to be fun watching the leaderboard tomorrow,” he added.

A disappointed Nachimuthu rued a poor day in the office with only bogeys on ninth and 15th to show and a five-shot deficit to make up. “A lot of things did not work out right today but the greens were particularly stubborn after the overnight rain. It’s building up to be a tough contest tomorrow and I know that I need to improve.”

The PGM-Maybank Tour Players’ Championship marks the climax of the burgeoning domestic circuit’s second season, which saw a total of  18 legs.

Leading third round scores

207 – Akhmal Tarmizee 69-70-68
209 – Sukree Othman 74-68-67
210 – S. Sivachandhran 70-72-68
211 – Danny Chia 71-72-68, 70-73-68, S. Murthy 70-71-70
212 – Iylia Jamil 72-71-69, R. Nachimuthu 67-71-74
213 – Nicholas Fung 70-71-72, Shaaban Hussin 71-69-73, Md Rashid Ismail 71-68-74