Rawang: Kemarol Baharin retained his lead in the Professional Golf of Malaysia (PGM) I&P Tournament of Champions at Templer Park Country Club on Wednesday – but only just.
Returning with a poor third round effort of three-over 75, the 29-year-old saw his three-shot advantage trimmed to a single shot by Englishman Grant Jackson, who fired a two-under-par 69 to move into second place.
R. Nachimuthu kept his bid for the title in a good spot with an even-par 72 that left him two strokes off the top and alongside first round leader Sukree Othman (74). They were joint third on three-under 213, ahead of Airil Rizman (70) and Shaaban Hussin (72), who were a further four strokes adrift.
Having conceded a shot on the opening hole, Kemarol traded three birdies and a bogey around the turn to stay level-par for the day but a stretch of three straight bogeys through 14th saw his advantage evaporate on a difficult scoring day around the Masashi Ozaki-designed tract.
“I found the course difficult to play today – more than the first two days. But I am still looking forward to the final round, where I hope can hold on to my lead and wrap-up the event,” said Kemarol, who totalled five-under 211.
“My goal this season, after coming back from a long layoff through (back) injury, is to win one or two events and if I can do it here, I will be more than happy with the start.”
Pleased with his showing today, Jackson meanwhile was pleased with his showing and was looking forward to claim his second PGM Tour crown, having won the Maybank Johor Masters last season.
“My short game really helped me out a lot. I haven’t sunk any real big putts yet, most because the greens are difficult to read, but I was able to get up-and-down rather well in tough situations. Indeed, I chipped in twice today and that really helped but I was disappointed with the bogey at the last, which cost me the joint lead,” shared Jackson.
Complete third round scores (Malaysian unless stated)
211 – Kemarol Baharin 69-67-75
212 – Grant Jackson (ENG) 71-72-69
213 – Sukree Othman 67-72-74, R. Nachimuthu 70-71-72
217 – Airil Rizman 74-73-70, Shaaban Hussin 72-73-72
218 – Peter Richardson (ENG) 75-71-72, Ryan Bulloch (AUS) 72-71-75
219 – S. Murthy 72-78-69, Kenneth De Silva 75-72-72
220 – Md Rashid Ismail 76-70-74, Masaru Takahashi (JPN) 70-75-75
221 – Shaifubari Muda 73-75-73
222 – Wilson Choo 75-74-73, Danny Chia 74-70-78
223 – Akhmal Tarmizee 76-75-72
224 – Mitsuhiko Hashizume (JPN) 72-76-76
225 – Anis Helmi Hassan 76-74-75
227 – S. Sivachandhran 78-74-75, Iylia Jamil 71-78-78
230 – Iain Steel 77-77-76
