Kuantan: A battle between two Queenslanders is brewing at the Royal Pahang Golf Club after Taylor MacDonald and Kevin Marques took a share of the lead heading into the final round of the 111th Malaysian Amateur Open tomorrow.
Leading by a single stroke coming into Saturday’s third round, Marques let his overnight advantage slip with a round of one-over 72 to finish tied with MacDonald (71) on seven-under 206.
The Australian duo left the chasing quartet comprising of local hope Albright Chong (74), 2012 runner-up Poom Saksansin (71), Chinese Taipei’s Chieh Po-lee (68) and Indian Karan Taunk (68) trailing by four strokes on a high-scoring day at the seaside tract.
Matching rounds of even-par 71 saw Thailand’s Chanachok Dejpiratanamongkol and Abel Tam of Malaysia take a share of seventh on 211 alongside Singaporean ace Jerome Ng (73
Sixtieth on the World Amateur Golf Rankings (WAGR), Macdonald is the top-ranked player in the field this week and the 21-year-old looked set to outleap clubhouse leader Marques until a double bogey on the 17th pulled him level with the latter
“It was a fair outcome and a good step going into tomorrow. A little disappointed with the 17th when I dropped a double bogey, which erased the advantage I had built up.
“But I can’t complain too much because I was striking the ball a lot more compact today than I did in the last two rounds, so that’s a good development,” said MacDonald, who admitted that playing with his regular practice mate in the final round is going to be a daunting experience
“We know each other too well but this will be the first time that we are paired together in a final round of a championship, so it’s definitely going to be close. I think the both of us have to concentrate on the job at hand and there won’t be too much of mucking around, that’s for sure,” he added.
Marques rued a poor putting display as he returned with two bogeys against a single birdie on 16th. “A couple of three putts on the front nine really cost me today. I was hitting the greens in regulation but had one too many long putts and the putter was just not doing the trick today,” shared the 23-year-old.
“I have been playing aggressively all week but with the championship being so closely poised, it’s going to be important to make the putts count tomorrow, shoot a good number and hopefully, that will take care of itself,” added Marques.
Two strokes off the lead at the start of the day, Albright cut a disappointed figure after seeing the deficit double to four.
“I didn’t hit my approaches close enough to the pins and that left me with a lot of long putts, which I didn’t convert including a three-putt on 17th,” said the 16-year-old Sabahan.
“I am definitely disappointed because I started alright but I did not give myself enough chances on the day. There’s just one more round, so I hope to enjoy my round tomorrow and finish strongly as I can.”
Leading third round scores (Malaysians unless indicated)
206 – Taylor MacDonald (AUS) 68-67-71, Kevin Marques (AUS) 68-66-72,
210 – Albright Chong 69-67-74, Poom Saksansin (THA) 69-70-71, Chieh Po-lee (TPE) 71-71-68, Karan Taunk (IND) 73-69-68,
211 – Jerome Ng (SIN) 72-66-73, Chanachok Dejpiratanamongkol (THA) 70-70-71; Abel Tam (MAS) 71-69-71
212 – Edgar Oh (SIN) 70-72-70 , Udayan Mane (IND) 74-69-69
213 – Nicklas Chiam (SIN) 68-70-75; Solomon Emilio Rosidin 69-72-72, Christoper Robert Brown (AUS) 70-69-74,
