Shah Alam: Defending champion Nicholas Fung narrowed overnight leader Danny Chia’s lead to three shots after the third round of the Professional Golf of Malaysia (PGM) Northport Glenmarie Masters with Nicholas Fung on Friday.

Fifty-four hole leader Chia remained in pole position despite shooting a two-over-par 73 for seven-under-par 209 as Fung (70) and Mohd Azman Basharuddin (71) ensured an all-Malaysian final group tomorrow at the RM200,000 (approximately US$65,000) Asian Development Tour (ADT) event.

Another local M. Sasidaran (70) was bunched up in fourth with Shaun Malone (71) of England, Pavit Tangkamolprasert (73) of Thailand, Park Il-hwan (73) of Korea, Jakraphan Premsirigorn (74) of Thailand and ADT Order of Merit leader James Bowen (76) of the United States at the Glenmarie Golf and Country Club.

Chia, who is recovering from a stiff neck, was two-under for the day after five before his putter went cold and he dropped five shots in the next 10 holes. He was fortunate to birdie the last which kept him on track to become the first Malaysian to win an ADT title this year.

“My putting was an entirely different story today compared to the last two days. The pins were placed on difficult areas of the greens which explain the relatively high scores,” said Chia, who turned 40 last November.

He was delighted to capitalize on his overnight lead where he was four shots ahead of Bowen, who slipped down the leaderboard with a 76. “I’m glad I had a big lead going into today’s round. I’m in a good position and it is nice to see some Malaysians behind me. Hopefully I can win it but if I don’t, I hope one of the Malaysians can do it,” added Chia.

After shooting a 73 in the first round, Fung, who earned his Asian Tour card at Qualifying School earlier this year, has slowly fought his way back into contention.

“It is good to be in contention. My game was okay and I’m glad with how I’ve been playing these last two days. I only had one bad round but now I’m looking forward to the last day,” said the reigning PGM Tour Order of Merit winner.

Leading third round scores:
209 – Danny Chia 67-68-74
212 – Nicholas Fung 73-69-70, Mohd Azman Basharudin 71-70-71
215 – M. Sasidaran 74-71-70, Shaun Malone (ENG) 75-69-71, Pavit Tangkamolprasert (THA) 70-72-73, Park Il-hwan (KOR) 71-71-73, Jakraphan Premsirigorn (THA) 73-68-74, James Bowen (USA) 68-71-76
216 – Lindsay Renolds (CAN) 73-73-70, Michael Bibbat (PHI) 70-73-73, Chang Tse-peng (TPE) 70-71-75