Jasin [MELAKA]: Shaaban Hussin stayed on course for his first title of 2014 after carving up a two-stroke cushion at the Professional Golf of Malaysia (PGM) Orna Melaka Championship.

The co- overnight leader shot a one-under 71 to move to seven-under-par 209 for the tournament after the third round at Orna Golf & Country Club on Friday.

With the course playing tougher than usual, current money list leader R. Nachimuthu (71) and consistent Lam Yu Shuen (72) were tied second with Nicholas Fung (70) and Shaifubari Muda (71) another shot back on four-under.

Nicholas Pua, who led after the first round, stumbled to sixth with a 76 with M. Sasidaran, who shared the halfway lead, carding a five-over 77 to lie a further shot adrift.

Zen Dharmaratne (71), Hans Jamil (71), Lim Eng Seng (71), Mohd Rizal Amin (73) and Keegan Kam (75) were tied for eighth place on even-par 216.

Pleased with his progress so far, Shaaban said he would attempt to do the same things tomorrow and that is to “keep the mistakes to a minimum and try to stay focused on one shot at a time.

“I’m happy with how I’m striking the ball,” added Shaaban, whose last victory came at the ASEAN PGA Penang Championship last year.“I have to just try and do the same things tomorrow and see where it will end up.

“The course played tough today and we don’t expect it to be any easier in the final round, so tomorrow should be another hard day out there.”

Leading third round scores
209 – Shaaban Hussin 70-68-71
211 – R. Nachimuthu 71-69-71, Lam Yu Shuen 70-69-72
212 – Nicholas Fung 74-68-70, Shaifubari Muda 74-67-71
214 – Nicholas Pua 67-71-76
215 – M. Sasidaran 71-67-77
216 – Zen Dharmaratne 73-72-71, Hans Jamil 70-75-71, Lim Eng Seng 68-77-71, Mohd Rizal Amin 74-69-73, Keegan Kam 69-72-75