Despite late Shenzhen woes Aphibarnrat leads
Print Edition
KIRADECH Aphibarnrat dropped three shots on his last two holes but will still take a two-shot lead into the final round of the Shenzhen International as the Thai bids for his second European Tour title.
Aphibarnrat birdied nine of his first 13 holes and had a five-shot advantage before the 17th when his putting let the 25-year-old down.
The 2013 Malaysian Open champion double bogeyed the par-5 hole and dropped another shot at the last to sit 12 under after his round of 68.
“I’ve been striking the ball so well in the first three rounds. It’s a good way to start,” said Aphibarnrat.
“First, I made three straight birdies to jump up at the top. I was still hitting the ball great on the back. Then I made a big mistake on last two holes, not the way to finish.”
Halfway leader Peter Uihlein lurked two shots behind after birdieing the penultimate hole for the third time this week to return a 1-under 71.
“I lost the focus on the short putt on 17,” conceded Aphibarnrat.
“That is the big turn, the big key for me after Peter made birdie, and we swung three shots on that. That’s a big move. But I made a mistake and I lost some concentration.”
American Uihlein was equally unhappy with his round.
“I just made too many sloppy bogeys. Four bogeys, a bit rough, five birdies and missed a couple pretty easy ones,” rued Uihlein, who has not won on the European Tour since his maiden triumph at the 2013 Madeira Islands Open.
Pablo Larrazabal of Spain matched the low round of the day with a 7-under 65 to move into third place, one stroke behind Uihlein. He had eight birdies and a bogey on No. 17.
“The game was brilliant today,” he said. “I’m hitting the middle irons and the short irons very well and I can put the ball close to the hole.”
Emiliano Grillo (70), Matt Ford (70), Tommy Fleetwood (69) and Scott Hend (68) were in a tie for fourth at 8 under.
Nineteen-year-old Li Haotong, one of China’s most promising players, also shot a 65 to improve to joint-eighth place. He had seven birdies in a clean round.
American Bubba Watson struggled for a third straight day at Genzon Golf Club, shooting a 74. The two-time Masters winner is in a tie for 58th place at 2 over.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
