LATE ENTRIES FOR SCOTTISH ALLIANCE CHAMPIONSHIP

Entries for this coming week's Scottish Alliance championship at Monifieth and Arbroath - Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday - will be accepted up to the last minute.
First pro prize is generally in the region of £1,000
 
TO MAKE A LATE ENTRY, CONTACT  

Secretary

Mr. Edward Sherry

Lundin Tower

Pilmuir Road

Lundin Links

KY8 6BD

Tel. (01333) 329605

or

Mr. Lee Sutherland

Tel (01382)532945

email leesutherland@btconnect.com

JAMES WHITE COULD BE PRO BY NEXT YEAR'S DUNHILL LINKS CHAMPIONSHIP

By BILL SHAW
 A 24 year old, Fife-based golfer is hoping to make the move into the professional ranks following an appearance at this year’s Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.
James White from Buckhaven had initially planned to caddy at this year’s tournament but was instead offered a playing place alongside English professional Steve Webster. They finished the event today with a team score of 16-under-par, but failed to make the cut by five shots. 

“We made the score respectable today after dropping eight shots. I got off to a good start today, was three-under after five so that got us off and rolling and then Steve made a few birdies after that,” said James. 
“I played well today but Steve played really well throughout. He hardly made a bogey in three rounds so it was pretty tough to make any contribution.”

Prior to his call-up, James was going to caddy for Aberdeen Asset Management supremo Martin Gilbert. “When I got the call I was delighted but I had to tell Martin that I needed to get another caddy for him. He was fine with that,” said James.

James, who is hoping to turn pro next year, is a member of the Scottish Golf Union elite squad where he was part of a significant win last summer.
“We won the Home Internationals this year at Glasgow Gailes. It was the first time since 2008 that Scotland won and I had a great week. I was unbeaten with five points out of six and two halved matches.”

He says his inclusion in this year’s tournament has been hugely inspiring and hopes it will help set him up for the move to professional status. 
“I usually watch this event on the TV so to be here is fantastic. It’s a great experience playing with top pro’s, to compare your game to theirs and to see just how good you need to be to make it. It just makes you appreciate how good these guys really are. It was a real eye opener.”

A ticket price of £15 (concessionary £10) will be charged for the final day’s play of the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship over the Old Course on Sunday, October 7.  
Entry for under 16s and students is free. Tickets are available through the ticket hotline on 0870 010 9021 or at the entrance gates. 

 

 

Or

THE FINAL SHOWDOWN: GRACE LEADS OLESEN BY FOUR SHOTS

NEWS RELEASE FROM ST ANDREWS
 Unless something remarkable happens on the Old Course tomorrow, South Africa’s Branden Grace will take the Alfred Dunhill Links Champion ship trophy back to South Africa.
For a moment today it looked as if Grace might after all be caught as Denmark’s Thorbjorn Olesen edged ever closer to him, but by the end of play the South African had opened up a lead of four after surviving his Carnoustie test with a third round 69 for a 20-under-par total.
Grace had led by six with just four holes to play when the old terrier of Carnoustie reared up and bit him. A double bogey 6 when he drove into a fairway bunker interrupted what was beginning to look like a victory parade. 
Almost simultaneously Olesen birdied the 14th at Kingsbarns and for the first time in three days, Grace was beginning to look vulnerable. However Olesen himself suffered a double bogey 6 on the 17th at Kingsbarns and once again Grace was back in control.
The tournament, conceived as a celebration of links golf, is played over three of the world’s best known and respected links courses - the Old Course at St Andrews, the Championship Course at Carnoustie and the highly regarded Kingsbarns Golf Links.
Now 24-year-old Grace and 22-year-old Olesen will go out in the last group tomorrow on the Old Course to fight it out for the US$800,000 first prize, with Swedes Frederik Andersson Hed and Alexander Noren one shot further back, then Scotland’s Stephen Gallacher and Joel Sjoholm another shot behind them.
Grace said: “I think the way I'm playing, you never know what's going to happen on the day.  I think if I keep hitting the ball like I am and make the putts like I am then anything is possible. Thorbjorn is one hell of a player and he's shown in the past that he can play with the big names as well and he's not going to fall under pressure. 
“Everything depends on the weather.  If we have a great day tomorrow, it's going to be a low scoring round, and if the weather turns bad on us and the wind starts blowing, you'll never know what St Andrews has got for us. I've dreamed of picking up a trophy on that bridge on the 18th, so maybe this time tomorrow, it may happen,” he added.
Olesen, who had a 68 at Kingsbarns, said: “I shot four-under-par, which is a good score, but I am  disappointed. It could easily have been minus six or seven today. 
"Branden is at 20-under. He’s a great player, but I’m going to do my best. I am looking forward to getting to St Andrews tomorrow. I find the greens at St Andrews easy to read. I had a tough time today reading the greens.”
Stephen Gallacher, champion in 2004, showed his liking for the competition with a terrific 65 at Kingsbarns, including an eagle two at the 17th where he holed his second shot, to hoist himself back into the reckoning at 14-under-par. 
He said: “It was a 5-iron from 200 yards. I didn’t see it go in, I was totally blind, but they were jumping around, so I knew it was in. Then I had a birdie on the last hole so it really gets me back into the hunt. I think we’re all playing for second place, but who knows in golf.  I've just got to keep to my own game and see what happens.”
Partnering the professionals are an enthusiastic group of talented amateur golfers, who compete for the Alfred Dunhill Links Team Championship.  Hollywood stars Bill Murray, forever remembered by golf fans for his role as the greenkeeper in the film Caddyshack, and Greg Kinnear have joined rock music legends Huey Lewis and Bon Jovi drummer Tico Torres, along with a host of great sports stars, including Olympic and Paralympic gold medal heroes Michael Phelps and Oscar Pistorius.
In a strong turn- out of sports stars, Phelps and Pistorius have been joined by former Olympic rowing legends Sir Matthew Pinsent and Sir Steve Redgrave, football greats Johan Cruyff, Ruud Gullit, Alan Hansen and Jamie Redknapp, plus a strong team of cricketers in Sir Ian Botham, Allan Lamb, Brian Lara, Andrew Strauss, Steve Waugh and Shane Warne. Rugby is also represented by Schalk Brits, Morné du Plessis and Gavin Hastings.
With one round to go, American businessman Hugh Connerty and Thai professional Thongchai Jaidee lead the Team Championship on 33-under-par after a team score of 60 at Kingsbarns.
 They are five shots ahead of Alexander Noren and Ernesto Bertarelli, the man behind the America’s Cup winning team Alinghi. Two shots further back are professional Ashley Hall and South African property developer Gary Hackner.
Olympians Phelps, who was playing with Paul Casey, and Pistorius, playing with Paul McGinley, both missed the cut in the Team Championship, but said they enjoyed their experience so much that they want to return. 
South African Pistorius, known as the Blade Runner because he competes on carbon fibre blades and who this year became the first Paralympian to take part in an Olympic Games, said: “Playing in this tournament has been phenomenal and even better than I expected it to be.”
Phelps is still reliving the astonishing 53-yard putt that he sank at Kingsbarns, during his second round, and said: “I will never forget it. I just tried to get it to the top of the rise in the green and I couldn’t believe it when it then ran down the other side and all the way into the hole. I just had to give a bit of a Tiger-esque fist pump!”

TO VIEW ALL THE SCORES

CLICK HERE 

SCOTS WHO MISSED THE CUT
-4 Richie Ramsay
-4 Craig Lee
-3 Paul Lawrie
-3 George Murray
-3 Peter Whiteford
-2 Martin Laird
+5 Alastair Forsyth
+5 Gary Orr       

LLOYD SALTMAN LEADS ALLIANZ OPEN INTO FINAL ROUND

CHALLENGE TOUR REPORT
From NEIL AHERN 
Three former amateur starlets will battle it out in the final group at the ALLIANZ Open de Lyon as Scotland’s Lloyd Saltman takes the lead into the final day, a shot clear of fellow former Walker Cup player Sam Hutsby and record-breaking ex-US Amateur Champion Byeong-hun An.
All three are chasing a first title on the European professional circuit and will play together at Golf de Gouverneur in search of the biggest win of their respective careers. 
Saltman, the former English Amateur Open Stroke Play Champion who twice represented Great Britain and Ireland in the Walker Cup, leads the way after a second successive three under par round of 68 which moved him to the front on ten under.
After entering the day three shots off the lead, the Edinburgh man birdied the par three third hole before bogeying the seventh – thanks to a difficult lie in the rough for his approach - to reach the turn in level par. 
The determined 27 year old, who would significantly boost his chances of qualifying for the season-ending Apulia San Domenico Grand Final with a win this weekend, came out with all guns blazing on the more testing back nine and back to back birdies at the 12th and 13th followed by another gained shot at the last elevated him to the top of the leaderboard. 
“It was a great back nine today because it’s the tougher nine I would say,” said Saltman. 
“It was a bit breezier today and I didn’t really get a chance on the front nine. I said to (brother and caddy) Zack, I want to be leading after today, so we just said ‘be patient’ and then we were joking about it when I hit it close at the 18th - it all worked out. “It was pleasing and a good day’s golf. The focus this week has really been to play to win and I’m in a great position so I'm looking forward to tomorrow’s challenge. “I had a good record as an amateur and I've won a few smaller tournaments as a pro but I just haven’t done it on the big stage yet. I've had a second and a third place on the Challenge Tour but it would be really nice to get my first win here in Lyon. “I feel really comfortable out there and I’m really looking forward to tomorrow, seeing what’s thrown at me and trying to handle it as best I can.”
 A shot back were Hutsby and South Korean An, who became the youngest player to win the US Amateur Championship in 2009, beating the record set a year previous by Danny Lee and formerly held by Tiger Woods. 
The 21 year old also needs a high finish this week to keep his season on the Challenge Tour alive and, after a three under par third round of 68 which included a birdie at the last, he is feeling in good spirits as he chases a maiden professional victory.
“I had to play well here just to make sure I have a Challenge Tour card for next year,” said An.
 “But I was playing pretty well in the last few weeks and hitting it well so I just needed to play my game. “It will be my first time in the final group and it’s supposed to be rainy tomorrow so it will be fun. I love to play, I don’t care what group I’m in. I just want to play and hopefully my game will stay like this. I can’t wait; it’s going to be a big day.”
Hutsby could not repeat his heroics of the second day, when an eight under par 63 moved the Englishman into a two shot overnight lead, but is relishing the opportunity to play in the final group as he looks to improve on his one over par third round of 72.
 “It was a bit of a boring start with seven pars,” said the 25 year old, a former Spanish Amateur Open Champion. 
“I hit some really nice shots then and thought I’d hit good putts but they were difficult to read. I took a few risks towards the end and got punished but it’s a day where you can blow yourself out of it and I didn’t do that. 
“It’s still a nice position to be in I suppose. It’s almost a bit of match play in the final group. I haven’t had that for a while, the last time I had it was when I finished second at Qualifying School Final Stage, and I really enjoy it. 
“My game’s a bit inconsistent but hopefully tomorrow things can fall into the right place and I can have a nice finish.”
 Two Frenchman were a shot further back on eight under par, alongside Scotland's Chris Doak, as Baptiste Chapellan and amateur Romain Langasque kept alive hopes of a second successive French home victory on the Challenge Tour after Julien Brun's victory in Toulouse two weeks ago.

THIRD-ROUND SCOREBOARD

203 L Saltman (Sco) 67 68 68

204 S Hutsby  (Eng) 69 63 72, B An (Kor) 71 65 68

205 B Chapellan (Fra) 66 68 71, C Doak (Sco) 70 67 68, R Langasque (am) (Fra) 67 69 69

206 R Russell (Sco) 68 69 69, P Archer (Eng) 67 67 72, S Jeppesen  (Swe) 67 67 72

207 J Garcia Pinto (Esp) 69 69 69, C Russo (Fra) 69 69 69, A Otaegui  (Esp) 68 70 69, J Guerrier  (Fra) 69 68 70, A Johnston (Eng) 70 65 72

208 A Levy (Fra) 70 70 68, T Sluiter  (Ned) 69 67 72, J Walters (RSA) 72 68 68, B Åkesson (Swe) 66 71 71, S Tiley (Eng) 68 69 71, S Wakefield (Eng) 68 70 70, W Besseling  (Ned) 70 65 73, P Edberg (Swe) 72 66 70, A Perrino  (Ita) 72 66 70,

209 J Hansen  (Den) 71 70 68, R Echenique (Arg) 70 69 70, C Lloyd (Eng) 70 66 73, G Stal  (Fra) 69 67 73, P Dwyer (Eng) 71 66 72, E Dubois (Fra) 68 69 72, A Domingo (Esp) 68 71 70, E Pepperell (Eng) 66 72 71,

210 R Kakko  (Fin) 75 65 70, S O'Hara  (Sco) 69 68 73, S Henry  (Sco) 72 69 69, J Lagergren (Swe) 67 71 72, E De La Riva  (Esp) 68 70 72, L Jensen (Den) 72 68 70,

211 C Gane (Eng) 72 67 72, R Neil-Jones (Eng) 72 68 71, C Paisley  (Eng) 70 69 72, B Ritthammer (Ger) 68 67 76, A Tadini (Ita) 70 68 73, C Berardo (am) (Fra) 67 70 74,

212 J Remesy (Fra) 73 68 71, M Crespi  (Ita) 68 73 71, K Le Sager  (Fra) 69 72 71, J Huldahl (Den) 71 70 71,

213 V Guillaume (Fra) 72 69 72, M Madsen  (Den) 65 73 75,

214 R Dinwiddie  (Eng) 73 68 73, A Kaleka  (Fra) 72 69 73, S Buhl (Ger) 68 72 74, L Kennedy  (Eng) 71 70 73, D Gaunt (Aus) 66 72 76, N Henriques  (Por) 71 70 73, A Snobeck  (Fra) 72 69 73, M Southgate  (Eng) 68 72 74,

215 F Praegant (Aut) 69 68 78, T Remkes (Ned) 72 69 74,

216 J Grillon  (Fra) 70 71 75, D Perrier (Fra) 71 70 75,

217 J Russell (USA) 72 68 77, M Tullo (Chi) 69 72 76,

220 C Brazillier  (Fra) 68 72 80,

 

EISENHOWER TROPHY CUT TO THREE ROUNDS IN TURKEY

The men's world amateur team championship for the Eisenhower Trophy at Antalya, Turkey has been reduced from 72 holes to three rounds because so much playing time has been lost with bad weather over the past 24 hours.
For the third and final round, teams in places 1-36 will play at Antalya GC and teams in places 37-72 will play at Cornelia GC.
Third round play will start at 3pm today.
Scotland's form has been so poor that they are lying 50th as a team after 36 holes and will play their final round among the also-rans at the Corneila course.

HOW THEY STAND AFTER TWO ROUNDS
266 United States
272 South Korea
274 Canada, Mexico
275 France

SELECTED TOTALS
280 England (T10)
283 Ireland (18th)
287 Wales (T23)
301 Scotland (50th)

SCOTS' INDIVIDUAL TWO-ROUND TOTALS
145 Graeme Robertson 73 72
156 Matthew Clark 79 77
158 Paul Sields 80 78.

US RYDER CUP SKIPPER LOVE IS MAN IN HOT SEAT NOW

• FROM THE GOLFWEEK WEBSITE

• By Alex Miceli

J

LAS VEGAS – Days after that fateful Sunday in Chicago, we are still asking the question: Was it the "Medinah Miracle" or the "Medinah Massacre"?
Put another way: Did Europe simply beat the U.S. again in the Ryder Cup or did the Americans beat themselves?
Ultimately, any second-guessing focuses on what the U.S. team did Sunday in winning only 3 1/2 of 12 points in singles matches to lose, 14 1/2-13 1/2, and eventually those doubts shift to American captain Davis Love III.
The American who didn’t hit a shot is on the hot seat after his team lost a four-point lead from Saturday night.
Love was the one who sat Phil Mickelson and Keegan Bradley in the Saturday afternoon four-ball when they were hot coming out of the morning session.
Love was the one who sent Tiger Woods back out onto Medinah Country Club's No. 3 course with a struggling Steve Stricker.
Why was Woods last in the 12 singles matches, ultimately rendering his play meaningless? And why did Love opt for a back-right hole location on the demanding par-3 17th, a hole that swung many of the matches from the U.S. to Europe?
This week Love has been doing the same as so many observers of last week's 39th Ryder Cup, asking himself what went wrong and why.
“I don't get mad at whoever is writing articles saying we should have done this, should have done that, because as soon as we get done, we all go inside and we talk about the shots that guys hit; can you believe this guy did that and that guy did that,” Love said.
 “What's hard for me is why you would second-guess the first two days. I can see second-guessing Sunday, because we got pounded. But we pounded them the first two days.”
It’s a fair observation. The U.S. rolled in the first four sessions, leading 5-3 after Day 1 and 10-6 after Day 2. The outcome appeared to be certain but obviously wasn’t.
In many discussions since his selection as captain, Love had talked with the only victorious U.S. Ryder Cup captain this century, Paul Azinger.
Azinger had his "pod" system, an idea rooted in the Navy SEALs' training program. Azinger would group four players together so they could be interchangeable within their group. The thinking was that the pod would breed support and familiarity.
Love used a similar philosophy, but instead of three groups of four, he went with six groups of two.
In hindsight, that might have been a mistake, specifically in the Mickelson-Bradley pairing. Mickelson wanted to sit out the Saturday four-ball. The agreement was struck before the matches, and Mickelson wanted Love to stick to the plan.
So what about Bradley playing Saturday afternoon without Mickelson?
“Yeah, we thought about that,” Love said of possibly pairing Bradley with Woods. “We thought about that a lot. That was our Plan B for that day, to take Strick out and put Keegan in. 
"But Tiger and Keegan hadn't even played together, you know. I didn't think much about it. You think about it now: Does that make Keegan nervous? How well does he know Tiger? How many times has he played with him? You could have asked him that. How would you do with Tiger? Go back and look at your chart and see if he listed Tiger as one of the guys he wanted to play with. Who wouldn't want to play with Tiger?
In the end, Love did none of those things but instead sent Woods our with Stricker and saw his best team (on paper) lose all three matches, something Love never would have imagined earlier in the week.
The loss also pumped up Europe and gave the visitors the hope from which they would feed for the Sunday comeback.
Ian Poulter made five consecutive birdies as he and Rory McIlroy rallied to defeat Jason Dufner and Zach Johnson in four-balls, 1 up.
“It could have been the first Ryder Cup ever that it was over on Saturday, where there's no way they could win," Love said. "They would have had to win every match (Sunday).”
Poulter’s heroics gave the Europeans hope. When they saw the pairings for Sunday, their optimism was buoyed further.
Love knew that European captain Jose Maria Olazabal would front-load his singles pairings to produce early victories. Yet after two days of flawless execution of the U.S. plan, Love didn’t have a solid strategy for the singles.
“I kind of thought, put a couple big guys up front and a couple big guys in the back,” Love said of his philosophy. “But if anything, I was overconfident that everyone was playing well and it really didn't matter. When guys started saying, 'I want to go first; I want to go last,' we just kind of led ourselves into that lineup.”
On Saturday afternoon, all of the U.S. players and assistant captains weighed in as to where they wanted to play, with the exception of Brandt Snedeker and Jason Dufner. The fast guys – Bubba Watson and Snedeker among them – go out first because they are fast.
Woods, Stricker and Jim Furyk in the back because they are the solid veterans who can backstop if anything goes wrong. It all sounded so good on Saturday night. Under the pressure of Ryder Cup Sunday, it didn’t look so good almost immediately.
Love got early calls on his radio from assistants Scott Verplank and Jeff Sluman (Fred Couples wouldn’t use a radio) seeing players struggling and asking the captain to come put out the fire.
“ 'You've got to get over to Webb (Simpson); he looks panicked. You've got to get to Bubba; he's not doing well,' ” Love said, recalling his assistants' pleas. “ 'You've got to get over and talk to Jim.' If those guys can tell that they're panicking, they're panicking.”
The Americans' passion from Friday and Saturday was replaced with bewilderment as the Europeans started their comeback.
“What could I have done differently to make them more comfortable is really what it boils down to,” Love said in his final analysis. “Did we put the order out there in a way that made the guys, when it went bad, uncomfortable?”
And for the possibility of Woods going first, Woods asked to be in the back – not necessarily the last guy. After Watson, Simpson, Bradley and Mickelson had been the major point-getters, even Woods wanted one or more of them to bring it home in the end.
Love never thought the outcome would be in doubt for Woods' match to matter, even when the Euros had won the first five matches.
 The Americans still had Dufner, Mickelson and Furyk with leads, and Stricker and Woods – Love thought – would pull out their matches. Love still thought that 16 points was possible at that point, but then the 1995 collapse at Oak Hill entered his mind.
“I got that Lanny (Wadkins, the U.S. captain) feeling, like I walked up to Lanny, I think it was in 18 fairway after I won my match, and I said, 'What's going on, Lanny?' He goes, 'I don't know,' ” Love recalled as the U.S. team that had a two-point lead entering Sunday's singles session lost 14 1/2-13 1/2. “' I can't believe this is actually happening.' "
"It'll always be a sting of losing,” Love said.

MyGolfRanking.co.uk, Fife Golfing Association

Week 39 ending September 30
1 A Davidson (Charleton) 1116.67 pts
2 C Nelson (St Michaels) 993.18
3 AL White (St Andrews New) 975
4 E Davidson (Charleton) 971.64
5 G Cramb (Canmore) 970.43
6 M Elvin (Forrester Park) 968.75
7 B Baillie (Balbirnie Park) 956
8 I Fleming (Auchterderran) 939.29
9 V Taylor (Lundin) 920.83
10 A R Medcraf (Balbirnie Park) 912.09
11 G Angus (Scotscraig) 911.63
12 O McCue (Kirkcaldy) 910
T13 T W Corke (St Andrews GC) 908.33
T13 G Lowe (Pitreavie) 908.33
15 BAA Kinsley (St Andrews GC) 907.14
16 A Hamilton (Balbirnie Park) 900
17 K Russell (Dunfermline) 895
T18 A Liddle (Cupar) 893.75
T18 J Woods (St Andrews GC) 893.75
20 J Henderson (Ladybank) 889.44.

For ranking lists of participating clubs, the full Fife and National ranking lists and How It Works, visit www.MyGolfRanking.co.uk

CHINNARAT LEADS IN WEATHER-HIT C J INVITATIONAL

Yeoju, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea: Thailand’s Chinnarat Phadungsil knows he faces an uphill battle despite holding the third round lead at 12-under-par through nine holes after play was suspended due to darkness at the C J Invitational Hosted by K J Choi today.

Tournament host K J Choi trailed closely behind Chinnarat after reaching the turn at 11-under-par to stay one shot back of the Thai while South Korea’s Kim Dae-hyun believes that staying patient would be key after he took third place at 10-under-par through 10 holes.

With almost four hours of play lost due to heavy fog in the morning, 62 players will have to return on Sunday morning to complete their third round at 9.20am with the final round scheduled to start at 10.20am.

Playing alongside tournament heavyweights, Choi and American Ben Curtis, Chinnarat held his own when he got off to a par-birdie-birdie start at the Haesley Nine Bridges Golf Club.

The 23-year-old parred the rest of the holes but had a nasty scare on the par-three eighth when his wayward drive found the greenside bunker.

He recovered well with an impressive up and down before saving par with a 10-feet putt at the US$750,000 event which is jointly sanctioned by the Asian Tour and Korean Golf Tour.

Leading third round scores

-10 Chinnarat Phadungsil (Tha) thru 9 holes

-11 K.J. Choi (SKor) thru 9 holes

-10 Kim Dae-hyun (SKor) thru 10 holes

-9 Lee Dong-hwan (SKor) thru 14 holes

-8 Jang Dong-kyu (SKor) thru 14 holes, Scott Hend (Aus) thru 14 holes, Prom Meesawat (Tha) thru 12 holes, Bae Sang-moon (SKor) thru 11 holes, Charlie Wi (SKor) thru 11 holes, Kim Meen-whee (SKor) thru 10 holes, Adilson Da Silva (Bra) thru 10 holes, Lee Sung (SKor) thru 10 holes, Ben Curtis (USA) thru 9 holes

 

CHOO CHUGS ONE SHOT AHEAD IN SARAWAK MASTERS

MEDIA RELEASE FROM THE ASIAN TOUR
Kuching, Malaysia: Singapore’s Choo Tze Huang battled to a two-over-par 74 to take a slim one-shot lead over Malaysia’s Akhmal Tarmizee and Filipino duo Jhonnel Ababa and Charles Hong after the third round of the PGM Sarawak Masters.

The 25-year-old Choo, touted as one of the region’s rising stars, seemed to be coasting towards a comfortable lead at the Sarawak Golf Club before stumbling over his last three holes with one bogey and a double bogey in the RM180,000 (approximately US$60,000) Asian Development Tour event.

“I was doing well, and putting decent. But in the last three holes, I didn’t quite do it. It was a bad finish,” said Choo, who compiled a three-day total of one-under-par 215.

“The greens are tough to get close to as they are firm and quick. They are really challenging and you really need to be patient out there which I was today. I’m quite happy despite the finish,” added Choo.

With one round to go, Choo is hopeful he can secure his maiden title on the ADT which rewards the top-three finishers on the final Order of Merit with Asian Tour cards for the 2013 season.

Malaysia’s S.Siva Chandhran and Jeremiah Kim signed for a 73 and 74 respectively to share fifth place with England’s Peter Richardson (70) and Japan’s Mitsuhiko Hashizume (71) on 217 

 

Leading third round scores

Par 216 (3x72)
215 CHOO Tze Huang (SIN) 71-70-74

216 Jhonnel ABABA (PHI) 75-71-70, Akhmal TARMIZEE (MAS) 70-73-73, Charles HONG (PHI) 71-69-76

217 Peter RICHARDSON (ENG) 75-72-70, Mitsuhiko HASHIZUME (JPN) 72-74-71, S. Siva Chandhran (MAS)72-72-73,  Jeremiah KIM (MAS) 71-72-74

218 Kenneth DE SILVA (MAS) 71-75-72, Sukree OTHMAN (MAS) 72-74-72, Michael MOORE (AUS) 71-74-73, Airil Rizman ZAHARI (MAS) 71-73-74