SCOT YATES SHARES THE LEAD WITH ONE
ROUND TO GO IN MIDEA CHINA CLASSIC

Scot Simon Yates and Thai young gun Chinarat Phadungsil eagled the final 18th hole for a two-stroke lead at the Midea China Classic on Saturday.
Yates, 37, blasted a stunning nine-under-par 62 that included two eagles as he equalled the course record set by Chinarat who fired a 64 in the third round earlier today. The duo were tied at the top of the pack on 19-under-par 194 total at the Royal Orchid International Golf Club.
Thaworn Wiratchant of Thailand, who is ranked 19th on the Asian Tour’s UBS Order of Merit, carded a 68 in lone third spot while Filipino Mars Pucay continued his aggressive approach with a 66 in fourth position for a 199 total.
Thai-based Yates was eight under after 11 holes, having eagled the 10th. He was struggling off the tee today and dropped shots on the 12th and 13th holes but bounced back with a birdie on the 14th hole. He closed in with style holing a 25ftt eagle putt on the 543yd 18th hole.
"It was my day today. I was very lucky throughout the round and I hope for the same on Sunday,” said the Glasgow-born Yates who has been riding on solid form this season thanks to a new swing technique taught by Simon Hurd’s coach Stewart Morgan early this year.
“I was driving it solid off the tee in the first two rounds but today, it was going all over the place. I think my bad habits started creeping in. But my eagles at the par four 10th and 18th holes were lucky. With the luck, I hope to get back to my new ways and finish off at the top,” he added.
Chinarat, who won his maiden Asian Tour title as an amateur in Thailand two years ago, shared a similar sentiment when he enjoyed a lucky break on the 18th hole.
“It was a great finish to my round but I was really lucky on the final 18th hole. My shot off the tee landed in the rough and I was 230 yards from the pin. A five wood got me out of trouble when the ball then hit the road, struck the curb and bounced back onto the green. I holed it from 10 feet. Great end to a lucky round,” said Chinarat, who won the 2006 Crowne Plaza Open.
“I will be nervous and a little bit tired heading into the final round but I’m excited to play with Simon. In Johor, we were playing together and we had a lot of fun on course as he is a really friendly guy so I hope to have a relaxed time with him when we compete against each other on the final day,” admitted Chinarat, who fired an eagle, six birdies against a lone bogey today.
LEADING THIRD-ROUND TOTALS
194 Simon Yates (Sco) 68-64-62, Chinarat Phadungsil (Tha) 68-62-64
196 Thaworn Wiratchant (THA) 65-63-68
199 Mars Pucay (Phi) 66-67-66
200 Brad Iles (NZ) 66-71-63, Scott Barr (Aus) 68-66-66, S.S.P. Chowrasia (Ind) 65-67-68, Edward Michaels (US) 65-64-71
201 Lin Wen-tang (TPE) 68-67-66, Hur In-hoi (KOR) 68-64-69
202 Jerome Delariarte (PHI) 69-69-64, Liang Wen-chong (CHN) 67-70-65, Troy Kennedy (Aus) 69-67-66, Michael Wright (AUS) 67-66-69, Jin Park (USA) 66-67-69
David Freeman (HKG) 68-64-70, Choengchai Punpumpo (THA) 66-66-70
203 - Wu Kang-chun (CHN) 68-65-70
204 - Atthaphon Prathummanee (THA) 67-69-68
205 - Chapchai Nirat (THA) 72-68-65, Lu Wen-teh (TPE) 71-67-67, Anthony Kang (USA) 70-66-69, S. Sivachandran (MAS) 69-66-70, Park Jun-won (KOR) 69-66-70, Hendrik Buhrmann (RSA) 67-68-70, Rahil Gangjee (IND) 66-68-71, Neven Basic (AUS) 69-65-71