Pengkalan Chepa: A tournament best of six-under 66 saw S. Sivachandhran open up a handsome four-shot advantage going into the final round of the Professional Golf of Malaysia (PGM) Kelantan Classic.

Bidding to win his first PGM title since claiming the Melaka Masters in 2011, Siva drained seven birdies against a sole bogey in Wednesday’s third round at Kelantan Golf & Country Club for a three-day total of 11-under 205.

Haziq Hamizan bounced back from a second round 73 with a superb inward stretch, registering four birdies and an eagle on the par-five 14th  to record a five-under 68, moving him back to second.

Khor Kheng Hwai (68), runner-up at the A’Famosa Classic two weeks ago, and Shaaban Hussin (71) were tied for third on 210 with the  quintet of Azman Basharuddin (68), Nicholas Pua (69), Arie Fauzi (69), Sukree Othman (69) and overnight leader Airil Rizman (73) a further shot back.

Rookie professional Zen Dharmaratne provided the highlight of the round, scoring a hole-in-one on the par-three sixth.

Siva, who shot 71 and 68 over the first two days, hopes to end his recent barren run. “I hit the ball solidly,” he said. “But, I also got a few lucky breaks, in that when I did get into trouble, I was able to recover quite well on most occasions.”

The soft-spoken 31-year-old added: “It will be my game plan to just go out there tomorrow (in the fourth round) and keep doing the same things – trying to keep it simple and play it hole by hole.”

Leading third round scores
205 – S. Sivachandhran 71-68-66
209 – Haziq Hamizan 68-73-68
210 – Khor Kheng Hwai 71-71-68, Shaaban Hussin 70-69-71
211 – Azman Basharuddin 75-68-68, Nicholas Pua 73-69-69, Arie Fauzi 71-71-69, Sukree Othman 71-71-69, Airil Rizman 70-68-73
212 – Kenneth De Silva 74-70-68, S. Murthy 67-72-74, M. Ramayah 73-71-70, Lam Yu Shuen 71-68-75