MINA GOES FOUR CLEAR AT ONEASIA Q SCHOOL

LOS ANGELES, California - Rookie American professional Eric Mina fired a brilliant third-round six-under 66 on Thursday to take command of OneAsia's Q-School at Industry Hills Golf Club in Los Angeles

Leading the field by two overnight, Mina (right) eased to 15 under for the tournament, four shots ahead of South Korean Lim Hyun-seok (66), with Canadian Ryan Yip (69) and American John Young Kim (70) two strokes further adrift.

Nearly 200 players signed up for the final stages of 2013 Q-School, with 10 spots up for grabs in California and 14 at Sutera Harbour Golf Club in Kota Kinabalu from February 5 - 8.

The aim for the California leg was to attract the Asia-Pacific players who base themselves on the U.S. west coast for college or training during winter, and also young professionals from north America with roots across the Pacific. 

Mina, 25, who hails from California but has family in the Philippines, turned professional only last year after finishing studies at Berkeley. Compact and measured, he has a clear path mapped out for his future and refuses to be distracted along the way.

"I'm really pleased with the way I played today, but it is a four-day tournament and there is a lot to play for," he said.

 A win in Los Angeles or Malaysia next week is rewarded by a start in all OneAsia's world-ranked million-dollar tournaments -- including the national Open championships of Australia, China, Korea and Thailand -- but Mina wouldn't mind having to rethink his plan

"It would be a great accomplishment," he said. 

"When a tournament is said and done, and you've done well, you've got to congratulate yourself."

Second placed Lim, born in Korea but brought up in southern California, said he probably wouldn't have entered Q-School had a leg not also been held in Los Angeles as he couldn't justify the travel. 

"Having the tournament here was a big advantage for me as I'm not sure I could have gone to Malaysia. However, now I really want to do well tomorrow. This is a big opportunity for me," he said.

"It would be a really big thing if I could get to play on OneAsia."

Masamichi Ito, at 17 the youngest player in the field, was delighted to be in seventh place after learning about qualifying on the Japan Golf Tour Organisation's (JGTO) Challenge Tour.

"I heard about OneAsia in Japan and thought it was better to come here for me," said Ito.

The JGTO and OneAsia have forged a growing relationship that includes two tournaments being co-sanctioned by both bodies this year-- including the season-opening U.S.$ 1 million Thailand Open from March 14-17, when earnings counting for both money lists.

  THIRD-ROUND SCOREBOARD

Par 216 (3x72) Yardae 7,211

201 - Eric MINA (USA) 68 67 66

205 - LIM Hyun-seok (KOR) 69 70 66

207 - Ryan YIP (CAN) 71 67 69, John Young KIM (USA) 71 66 70

208 - Shi KIM (KOR) 69 71 68, Rhein GIBSON (AUS) 71 68 69

210 - Masamichi ITO (JPN) 73 68 69

211 - IM Jae-woo (KOR) 71 74 66, Ryan CARTER (USA) 69 70 72, PARK Sung-joon (KOR) 70 68 73

212 - Dino GIACOMAZZI Jr. (USA) 69 75 68, Creighton HONECK (USA) 74 68 70, HAN Seung-su (KOR) 70 71 71, PARK Sung-shik (CAN) 68 73 71

213 - Corey HALE (AUS) 79 67 67, Steven ALKER (NZL) 72 72 69, Lanto GRIFFIN (USA) 72 69 72

214 - Richard JUNG (CAN) 74 72 68, Wil COLLINS (USA) 70 73 71, Brent WITCHER (USA) 69 69 76

215 - Robin ASKSTRAND (SWE) 76 67 72

216 - PARK Ji-hwan (KOR) 73 72 71

217 - YOON Se-jun (USA) 77 69 71, BAE Yoon-ho (KOR) 72 73 72, SONG Tae-hoon (KOR) 72 72 73

218 - Sam YI (USA) 71 77 70, Martin KIM (AM) (ARG) 74 72 72, Chan SONG (USA) 71 74 73, Sam CHIEN (USA) 72 71 75

220 - PARK Bae-jong (KOR) 76 71 73, Stephen HALE (USA) 77 71 72, Eugene CHOE (USA) 77 75 68

221 - Sean MCNAMARA (USA) 77 71 73, Eugene WONG (CAN) 74 72 75, SON Joon-eob (KOR) 73 73 75, LEE Won-joon (AUS) 73 76 72, Ryan THORNBERRY (USA) 71 78 72, Sean SHAHI (USA) 76 75 70

222 - James OH (USA) 72 75 75, LIM Seok-min (KOR) 73 76 73, KIM Seong-keun (KOR) 78 71 73

223 - JEON Song-min (KOR) 74 74 75, Ariya SAWANGSRI (THA) 74 75 74, Tye ALEXANDER (USA) 75 71 77, Mark BAKER (USA) 75 77 71

224 - Ross CANAVAN (ENG) 72 74 78, KIM Eui-sung (KOR) 76 74 74, Elliott WAINWRIGHT (USA) 75 77 72

226 - Won KIM (USA) 75 79 72

227 - LEE Hae-young (USA) 75 74 78, UM Bi-ho (KOR) 76 78 73

228 - SEO Jang-jin (KOR) 78 77 73

229 - KIM Gi-hun (KOR) 82 72 75, JUNG Doo-sik (KOR) 75 79 75, KIM Ki-uk (KOR) 80 75 74, Buddy DUNCAN (USA) 80 75 74

232 - Paul PARK (USA) 75 81 76

233 - Noah KONG (USA) 80 78 75

234 - Daniel KIM (AM) (USA) 82 78 74

235 - YOU Ki-won (KOR) 78 76 81, LEE Sang-hyun (KOR) 76 81 78

236 - KIM Dong-gun (USA) 78 79 79

238 - JEON Sang-hun (KOR) 78 81 79, Peter KIM (KOR) 82 78 78

240 - PARK Seok-hwan (AM) (KOR) 84 77 79

247 - Jeff YOON (KOR) 87 79 81

WDN - JUNG Min-suk (KOR) 83 81, James CHO (KOR) 82 82, Zack MEYERS (USA) 95 83

DSQ - Skyler HONG (USA)