Oct 27, 2018: Thailand’s Kiradech Aphibarnrat will be hoping to overcome his ball striking woes on the day that matters most after carding a third round two-under-par 70 at the World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions on Saturday.
The world number 41 ended day three of the US$10 million event in tied-seventh place, six shots back of American leader Tony Finau, who stamped his authority at the Shanghai showpiece by being the only player to birdie the last three holes to lead with his three-day total of 13-under-par 203.
Defending champion Justin Rose, who is seeking to become the only player other than Tiger Woods to defend a World Golf Championships title, returned with a 70 to share second place with Americans Patrick Reed and Xander Schauffele.
While a maiden WGC win at the Sheshan International Golf Club is still within sights, the Thai prefers to play down expectations and just focus on getting off to a fast start so that he chase Finau down on the final day.
Kiradech birdied two of his opening three holes before dropping a shot on six. He recovered quickly with another birdie on the next hole but suffered another bogey on the eight hole.
The Thai then marked his card with another pair of birdies on 13 and 14 before another bogey on 15 dropped him back to two-under for the round.
Like Kiradech, Finau is also eyeing his breakthrough at a WGC event and is hopeful of getting the job done provided he continues to maintain his composure as he is wary of the host of world class players ready to capitalise on any of his mistakes he may make on the final day.
Gaganjeet Bhullar of India had to suffer a rough day with six bogeys, two double bogeys. With his only birdie of the round, he has closed with 9-over-par 81 in the penultimate round and dropped to T62. Shubhankar Sharma managed to score par round with five bordies, three bogies and a double and finished the third round with 72.
Asian Tour Release
