06 July 2018: Gaganjeet Bhullar continued to play some solid golf as he looks to build on his recent run of good form. The Indian played with ambition to produce a third round 66 that pushed him into contention for Sunday. Bhullar is currently in T5 but is just three strokes shy of the leader Paul Peterson, who is gunning for a wire to wire victory in the Sarawak Championship.
The American shot 69 to retain a narrow advantage over his compatriot John Catlin, who is second just one back from Peterson. The leader sits at 17-under 199 at the scenic Damai Golf & Country Club in Malaysia.
Bhullar has already collected a couple of second place finishes this year, but is still looking for his first victory since the Macao Open last year.
“I hit the ball really good. I hit all the fairways and missed only three greens. Overall it was a good day in terms of ball striking,” said Gaganjeet. “I got off to a good start with two birdies and that gave me a lot of boost and confidence.
“I’m happy to be in this position. I’ve been striking the ball really good in the last four months. The trick is all mental now,” he added. “If I’m able to do the same thing in the last few days, I will be happy with my game.”
Catlin stayed in the hunt with a 68, with Danthai Boonma and Javi Colomo lying third, just one back from Catlin. Both men fired 68 on Friday.
Lying together with Bhullar is Thailand’s Peradol Panyathanasedh (67).
“It did take me a while to get hot. The group seems to survive the first few holes. Nobody really did much and John (Catlin) made a couple of putts,” explained Peterson, who made nine straight pars before picking pace on the home stretch. “I didn’t really feel that the pin positions suited my game with the wind direction. There were a lot of left pins with left to right wind and I tend to draw the ball.
“I can’t control what the other players do. I just need to make as many birdies as I can. More of the same in terms of cutting the bogeys to a minimum,” added Peterson. “I will tell my coach that I had a lot out of my round and that I’m happy with things. We will probably just have a laugh tonight.”
Bhullar was hunting in pairs on Friday. He shot back to back birdies at the first and sixth holes as he consolidated his position inside the top ten.
A lone blemish on his card came at the par-3 eighth, before he resumed regular service soon after the turn.
“It looks like it will be an exciting final round. It looks like the guy who is leading is playing some good golf,” said Bhullar. “Golf is a funny sport and anything is possible. Everybody is giving their 100% and so am I. I’ll go out there and do my best.
“Game wise, I’m feeling really confident and I’ve been converting a lot of good scores and giving myself a lot of opportunities.”
Bhullar made birdies at the tenth, twelfth and seventeenth holes before coasting home without any further incident.
