Herrera leads by two shots at Final

Stage of Asian Tour Q School

PRESS RELEASE ISSUE BY ASIAN TOUR
Rayong, Thailand, January 15: Colombia’s Eduardo Herrera grabbed a two-stroke clubhouse lead in the third round of the Final Stage at the Asian Tour’s Qualifying School today.
Herrera, 43, recorded a four-under-par 69 for a 211 total at the St Andrews 2000 course for a two stroke advantage over England’s Ally Mellor who posted a 70.
Compatriot John Parry was even-par after 17 holes before poor visibility due to darkness stopped play at 6:20pm.
Local golfer Sattaya Supupramai shot a 71 and was in a tie for third spot alongside Japan’s Sushi Ishigaki and Matthew Griffin of Australia who both recorded similar 72s. Australia’s Jason Norris was among those in a tie for sixth place after a 75.
But it was Herrera who took full advantage of the calm conditions at the par-73 St Andrews 2000 course when he fired a solid 69 today.
“It was windy in the beginning but it died down and I played well. I two putted for birdie on the final 18th hole which was a good end to the day,” said Herrera, with six wins in Japan.
“I have a lot of friends on the Asian Tour like Frankie Minoza and Zaw Moe so I’m hoping to gain playing rights in the 2009 season. Before, there were a few South Americans who used to come here but now I hope to start the trend of coming back to the Asian Tour,” said Herrera.
England’s Mellor, with one win on the local circuit, posted a steady 70 thanks to four birdies against a lone bogey in second place.
“I played really good today and I’m very happy. This has been the easiest day with not much wind so I could make the score. I got it going and put it all together,” said Mellor, who is based in the outskirts of London.
“I think Green Valley is a great test but St Andrews offers something different. I played the First Stage here and I finished sixth so I quite like it and I hope to keep it going in the remaining rounds,” he added.
Sattaya, 25, fired four birdies against two dropped shots and was the highest ranked local player when he was in joint third place.
“I had two chip-ins which was nice. I came here with the goal of playing in more Asian Tour events this year as I already have a country exemption.
“I will give it 100 percent and aim to finish strongly but if I don’t end the week where I want to it’s alright. I am just happy to be playing golf every day,” said Sattaya, with two top-10 finishes last year on the Asian Tour.
Overnight co-leader Parry, 22, who was even-par after 17 holes, will be eager to finish up his closing 18th hole early on Friday.
“The greens got a bit firmer and it was a bit tougher today. I was in the greenside bunker on the final 18th hole after my second shot but it was too dark to play. I hope to finish off the hole well early tomorrow morning and keep my momentum going,” said Parry, who was the World Amateur number seven in 2007.
The top-80 and ties after the fourth round on Friday will compete in the all-important fifth round where the top-40 and ties will earn playing rights for the 2009 season.
For all the scores log on to www.asiantour.com
Asian Tour Final Qualifying School
Thailand
THIRD-ROUND TOTALS
211 Eduardo HERRERA Colombia 70 72 69
213 Ally MELLOR England 70 73 70
214 Sattaya SUPUPRAMAI Thailand 71 72 71, Matthew GRIFFIN Australia 70 72 72, Sushi ISHIGAKI Japan 72 70 72
215 James KAMTE South Africa 74 71 70, HEO Won-kyung Korea 73 72 70, Peter COOKE
Australia 73 70 72, Toni KARJALAINEN Finland 74 72 69, SON Joon-Eob Korea 72 69 74, Daisuke MARUYAMA Japan 72 69 74, Jason NORRIS Australia 72 68 75.
216 Chris GAUNT Australia 72 73 71, James KRUGER South Africa 72 74 70, Pariya JUNHASAVASDIKUL Thailand 73 69 74
217 Tetsuji HIRATSUKA Japan 75 70 72, Chris ROAKE England 73 71 73, Mark PURSER
New Zealand 74 73 70
218 Heath REED Australia 74 71 73, Wilhelm SCHAUMAN Sweden 75 70 73, Mark MOULAND
Wales 73 72 73, James McLEAN Australia 73 73 72, Adam Le VESCONTE
Australia 75 71 72, KANG Min-woong Korea 73 68 77.
219 WU Ashun China 77 71 71, Young NAM Korea 71 73 75, Michael LIGHT Australia 70 74 75,
J.B. PARK Korea 74 71 74, Will YANAGISAWA USA 73 70 76, KIM Hyung-Tae Korea 72 70 77,
KIM Dae-Hyun Korea 74 72 73, George COETZEE South Africa 70 70 79
Selected scores
220 Andrew MARSHALL England 74 75 71, Paul GRANNELL England 73 72 75
221 Steve PARRY England 76 72 73, Tim STEWART Australia 74 70 77, Mitch TASKER
Australia 70 74 77
222 Christopher CAMPBELL Australia 71 77 74, Rohan BLIZARD Australia 71 77 74, Adam GROOM Australia 73 74 75
222 Steven TILEY England 73 74 75
225 Brad MCINTOSH Australia 76 72 77
226 Yasin ALI England 70 79 77.
226 Craig SMITH Wales 73 76 77, Simon DUNN Scotland 71 77 78, Ross BAIN Scotland 68 76 82, Jason KING Australia 73 72 81