VAN PELT AND GARRIGUS SHARE LEAD AT KUALA LUMPUR
NEWS RELEASE FROM ASIAN TOUR
Kuala
Lumpur: Title holder Bo Van Pelt of the United States
charged to the top of the US$6.1 million CIMB Classic after a
spectacular nine-under-par 62 saw him tie overnight leader Robert
Garrigus in the third round on Saturday.
Van
Pelt, who arrived for his defence in top form following a win in the
Perth International last week, flirted with golf’s magical 59 as he was
11 under par through 17 holes. But he disappointingly dropped a double
bogey on the 18th hole at the Mines Resort and Golf Club.
Garrigus
overcame a sluggish start by finishing with three closing birdies for a
69 and shared the lead on 16-under-par 197 in the co-sanctioned Asian
Tour and US PGA Tour event.
World
number two Tiger Woods worked up the large crowds by tying for the lead
briefly with an outward 30 but his challenge wilted under the Malaysian
heat as he settled for a 69, dropping three bogeys and one double bogey
to end the day five shots back.
South
African Jbe Kruger, third on the Asian Tour’s Order of Merit, kept
himself in the title hunt with a 69 putting him two strokes back while
India’s rising star Gaganjeet Bhullar fired a fine 65 for tied 10th place alongside Woods.
“Obviously,
disappointing to finish with a double but I look back on the 17 and a
half holes I played, and, you know, hopefully that will carry over into
tomorrow, not the last half,” said the 37-year-old Van Pelt.
“I
was like seven back going into the day, so I dug a pretty big hole.
Felt like you're going to need at least one really special round to try
to give yourself a chance. I don't think I missed a fairway on the front
nine. My irons were pretty sharp, and the putter, I had been close all
week, and today they were going in. They weren't burning the edge,” he
added.
While a mistake at the greenside bunker on 18 spoilt his hopes for a 59, Van Pelt, ranked 23rd
in the world, lamented missed birdie opportunities on several holes. “I
had obviously never had that good a chance to shoot a 59 before, and to
be honest, I'll probably look back on it and think about the third hole
(par five). I had a five iron in from the middle of the fairway and
didn't make birdie. I'll look back at 15, I'm 30 yards from the green
with an easy pitch and don't make it. Those are the holes that cost me
more than 18,” he said.
Two
opening bogeys wiped out Garrigus’ two-shot overnight lead almost
immediately but the 34-year-old American battled back gamely. “I must
have been tired or something,” he said of his start. “Didn't really have
my golf swing that much today. I hit some bad shots, hit some bad
putts, but sucked it up coming down there in the last.”
Woods
had the large crowds following his group in a frenzy after he sank five
birdies in his opening eight holes. As the birdies dried up, the
American superstar made far too many errors, including a tee shot into
the water for a double bogey on 14 and a three putt bogey on 17.
“The
back nine I made too many mistakes. I kept making bad decisions and
bad swings,” lamented Woods. “I’m going to have to shoot a low one
tomorrow. Something similar to what Bo did. The problem with being this
far back, I'm going to need help. A great round tomorrow might not win
it.”
The
slightly built Kruger hung around the leaderboard with an inward 33
giving him a realistic shot at the US$1.3 million top prize on Sunday.
“Concentration,
as always. It's probably the main thing. I find if I take a second or
two longer, I know I can concentrate a bit better. I just started to do
that,” said the South African on his better fortunes in the back nine.
“One
shot at a time. We'll see tomorrow. I've been hitting it probably as
good as I've been hitting it the last four or five months. So I'm
actually feeling confident.”
THIRD ROUND TOTALS
Par 213 (3x71) Yardage 6,909
197 - Bo VAN PELT (USA) 70-65-62, Robert GARRIGUS (USA) 64-64-69.
198 - Chris KIRK (USA) 69-66-63.
199 - Brendon de JONGE (ZIM) 68-65-66, Jbe' KRUGER (RSA) 66-64-69.
200 - Brian HARMAN (USA) 64-70-66.
201 - Tom GILLIS (USA) 65-70-66, Nick WATNEY (USA) 71-65-65, Greg Chalmers (AUS) 66-66-69.
202
- Gaganjeet BHULLAR (IND) 65-72-65, Jeff OVERTON (USA) 64-70-68, Tiger
WOODS (USA) 66-67-69, Ben CRANE (USA) 68-66-68, Kevin NA (USA) 67-66-69.
203 - Ricky BARNES (USA) 66-71-66, Pat PEREZ (USA) 67-68-68, Bill HAAS (USA) 70-65-68, Trevor IMMELMAN (RSA) 72-63-68.
204
- Jason DUFNER (USA) 68-72-64, John SENDEN (AUS) 72-66-66, NOH
Seung-Yul (KOR) 71-66-67, Carl PETTERSSON (SWE) 69-67-68, J.B. HOLMES
(USA) 66-70-68, Martin LAIRD (SCO) 68-67-69.
205
- Marcus FRASER (AUS) 70-70-65, Thaworn WIRATCHANT (THA) 72-65-68,
Anirban LAHIRI (IND) 71-66-68, Troy MATTESON (USA) 63-69-73.
206
- Sean O'HAIR (USA) 69-72-65, Masanori KOBAYASHI (JPN) 69-71-66,
Johnson WAGNER (USA) 70-69-67, John HUH (USA) 70-68-68, Charlie WI (KOR)
69-66-71.
207 - Scott PIERCY (USA) 75-68-64, Prom MEESAWAT (THA) 70-69-68, Bob ESTES (USA) 69-68-70, Ryan PALMER (USA) 69-68-70.
208 - Marc LEISHMAN (AUS) 75-67-66, Jimmy WALKER (USA) 69-68-71.
210 - Cameron TRINGALE (USA) 71-69-70.
211 - Kevin STADLER (USA) 67-68-76.
212 - David LIPSKY (USA) 68-73-71.
213 - William MCGIRT (USA) 70-70-73, Kyle STANLEY (USA) 69-70-74.
214 - Danny CHIA (MAS) 66-75-73.
216 - SIDDIKUR (BAN) 73-74-69.
217 - Shaaban HUSSIN (MAS) 74-73-70, Scott HEND (AUS) 70-77-70.
Labels: ASIAN TOUR
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