Asian Tour Release, 17 August 2019: Thailand’s Pavit Tangkamolprasert rode on a hot putter to post a seven-under-par 65 and grab a share of the third-round lead with Richard T. Lee of Canada and Chinese Taipei’s Hung Chien-yao at the US$300,000 Sarawak Championship on Saturday.
Aman Raj was the best-placed Indian golfer at T21, after making a 68 in the third round. With scores of 68-69-68, he eleven-under through 54 holes. S Chikkarangappa is at 10-under after making 69 on Saturday.
Udayan Mane is a further stroke back at 9-under, with Khalin Joshi trailing him by one more. Aadil Bedi shot a second straight 71 to reach Sunday at 7-under 209. Rashid Khan conceded ground on Saturday as he settled for a 73, dropping to T43.
Shiv Kapur is also at 7-under alongside Aadil and Rashid. Ajeetesh Sandhu and Akshay Sharma were two shots back from the trio at 5-under.
Pavit, a one-time Asian Tour winner, returned with a near-perfect round highlighted by eight birdies against a bogey to match the overall efforts of Lee and Hung, who signed for rounds of 64 and 68 respectively, at the Damai Golf and Country Club.
The trio snatched a one-shot advantage over Jazz Janewattananond of Thailand after they were tied at the top with matching three-day total of 18-under-par 198s in the full-field event, which is celebrating its second straight edition on the Asian Tour this week.
The round of the day goes to Thai-Japanese Kosuke Hamamoto, who fired a sizzling 10-under-par 62 to set a new course record at the Arnold Palmer-designed course.
The 20-year-old rookie made five birdies on each nine to move into a share of eighth place on 201, three behind the leading trio. His third-round 62 would also mark the lowest round to par on the Asian Tour this season.
Jazz, who started the round with a one-shot lead, traded four birdies against two bogeys to sign for a battling 70. He is chasing for a fifth victory and a third one this season which would put him in a strong position to make the International Team for the Presidents Cup in December.
The Sarawak Championship is supported by the Sarawak State government. It is also the Tour’s second stop in Malaysia this season.
Did you know?
- Pavit Tangkamolprasert missed only one fairway in his commendable round of 65. He needed only 26 putts around the greens.
- He is a one-time winner on the Asian Tour. He won the Macau Open in 2016.
- Pavit is currently placed 65th on the Order of Merit. His best result this season is a tied-29th place finish at the New Zealand Open.
- Enjoyed his career-best season yet on the Asian Tour in 2016 where he finished 12th on the Order of Merit.
- Pavit was crowned the Asian Development Tour (ADT) Order of Merit champion in 2014, after winning three titles that season.
- He is a six-time winner on the ADT.
- Pavit’s sister Suchaya and brother Annop are both professional golfers.
- Richard T. Lee sits in 41st place on the Order of Merit with a current haul of US$39,005. He enjoyed a tied-10th place finish at the Kolon Korea Open in June.
- The 28-year-old Lee is a two-time Asian Tour winner. He won his maiden title at the Solaire Open in 2014 and claimed his second victory at the Shinhan Donghae Open in 2017.
- Earlier in April, he won The 15th DB Insurance Promy Open on the Korean PGA Tour.
- Lee enjoyed his career-best finish on the Asian Tour Order of Merit in 2015 where he finished in seventh place.
- Lee’s father Jeff is a teaching professional. He came in runner-up at the U.S. Junior Amateur Championship when he was 15.
- Lee finished as runner-up at his qualifier to earn entry to the 2007 U.S. Open, becoming the second youngest golfer in the 107-year history of the tournament. However, he did not finish the tournament as he injured his wrist in the second round. He finished at +20 and turned professional at the conclusion of the tournament.
- Hung Chien-yao of Chinese Taipei broke his personal 36-hole record after carding rounds of 64 and 66 to cap a two-day total of 14-under-par 130. He went on to break his personal 54-hole record after signing for a third-round 68.
- He hasmissed two cuts in six starts so far this season. His best result is a tied-34th place finish at the season-opening SMBC Singapore Open and he sits in 64th place on the current Order of Merit.
- The 27-year-old Hung finished tied-20th at the Sarawak Championship last year.
- Hung has yet to win on the Asian Tour but has one Asian Development Tour (ADT) title which he won on home soil in 2013.
- Hung won the TPGA Championship on his local circuit for the third consecutive year last month.
- Jazz Janewattananond is bidding for a fifth Asian Tour title and a third one this season to give himself a chance of automatically qualifying for the International Team, led by Captain Ernie Els, for the Presidents Cup.
- Currently placed 10th on the International Team standings, Jazz needs to move inside the top-eight on the rankings when the Sarawak championship concludes on Sunday. A victory at the Sarawak Championship will likely seal his move there along with an automatic spot for the match-play event which will be held in Melbourne at the end of the year.
- Sitting in 56th position on the latest Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR), Jazz is the highest-ranked player in the 156-man field. He is also the highest-ranked Thai player in the world.
Scores after round 3 of the Sarawak Championship being played at the par 72, 6970 Yards Damai GC course (am – denotes amateur):
198 – Pavit Tangkamolprasert (THA) 68-65-65, Richard T. Lee (CAN) 66-68-64, Hung Chien-yao (TPE) 64-66-68.
199 – Jazz Janewattananond (THA) 65-64-70.
200 – Sadom Kaewkanjana (THA) 66-67-67, Micah Lauren Shin (USA) 69-65-66, Andrew Dodt (AUS) 66-64-70.
201 – Miguel Tabuena (PHI) 65-65-71, Danthai Boonma (THA) 67-66-68, Kosuke Hamamoto (THA) 68-71-62.
202 – Lloyd Jefferson Go (PHI) 69-65-68, Justin Quiban (PHI) 64-71-67.
203 – Sam Lee (FIJ) 70-69-64, Tomoharu Otsuki (JPN) 67-68-68, Travis Smyth (AUS) 71-66-66.
204 – Mardan Mamat (SIN) 68-66-70, Tirawat Kaewsiribandit (THA) 69-66-69, Itthipat Buranatanyarat (THA) 68-67-69, Jack Harrison (ENG) 67-69-68, Liu Yanwei (CHN) 67-70-67.
