Fung and Siddikur share Singapore lead
NEWS RELEASE FROM ASIAN TOUR
Singapore: Malaysia’s Nicholas Fung and Bangladesh’s Siddikur Rahman
shared the third-round honours as they continued their mastery at the
inaugural World Classic Championship at Laguna National today
Fung
carded a two-under-par 70 while Siddikur broke par for the first time
with a 69 to stay two shots ahead of the chasing pack with their
three-day total of two-under-par 211 at the Laguna National Golf
and Country Club.
India’s
Chikka S continued his push for his maiden win on the Asian Tour by
signing for a 67 to share third place with Thailand’s Danthai Boonma and
Berry Henson of the United States at the US$750,000 Asian
Tour event.
Fung is ready for a final day showdown in Singapore, having endured a difficult season where his best result was a tied-42nd finish in Chinese Taipei.
With
a good opportunity to stake his place in the winner’s circle this week,
the Malaysian knows that a cautious approach on the demanding World
Classic course will be vital.
“Tomorrow,
I’ll try to play like how I have been playing these few days. I will
remind myself not to be greedy and get aggressive out there tomorrow.
“I will try to keep my ball in play and tell myself not to make anything worse than a bogey when I hit a bad shot,” said Fung.
Siddikur,
who came close to lifting his third Asian Tour title in India last
week, has another chance at glory again at the World Classic
Championship.
After rounds of 71 and 71, the Bangladeshi’s patience was finally rewarded when he returned with a red number on his card.
“Honestly,
I really enjoyed my round today. I gave myself very good chances out
there. I managed to grab those chances and came back with a low score. I
am really happy with how I played today.
“This
is not an easy course. You have to be patient. It will be the same
tomorrow. We are all tired and I think the player who has the strongest
stamina and a good mental game will have the chance to win
tomorrow,” said Siddikur.
Chikka
also has another opportunity to redeem himself, having fought his way
into contention but ran out of steam in India last week.
The
Asian Development Tour winner posted his best score of 67 following
rounds of 76 and 70 and believes he can be counted as another likely
contender for the World Classic Championship.
“My
scores have been improving everyday which is great. I’m confident with
my game and I’ve been playing well. I didn’t putt well on the first day
and even yesterday, the putts were not falling in but I
made sure I hit a lot of greens to shoot a one-under in the second
round.
“I
played well last week too but I just didn’t manage to hang in there on
the last few holes. I know my game is in shape and I am very confident
with how things are going,” said the Indian.
THIRD-ROUND LEADERBOARD
Par 213 (3x71) Yardage:
211 - Siddikur RAHMAN (BAN) 71-71-69, Nicholas FUNG (MAS) 74-67-70.
213 - Chikka S. (IND) 76-70-67, Danthai BOONMA (THA) 72-69-72, Berry HENSON (USA) 70-70-73.
214 - Chapchai NIRAT (THA) 76-69-69, Paul PETERSON (USA) 71-73-70, Chinnarat PHADUNGSIL (THA) 71-69-74.
215
- Danny CHIA (MAS) 73-72-70, Jyoti RANDHAWA (IND) 79-68-68, Panuphol
PITTAYARAT (THA) 72-73-70, Jeunghun WANG (KOR) 69-75-71, Akinori TANI
(JPN) 74-74-67, Sam BRAZEL (AUS) 69-74-72.
216
- Jbe KRUGER (RSA) 72-74-70, Prom MEESAWAT (THA) 73-73-70, Terry
PILKADARIS (AUS) 74-71-71, Josh YOUNGER (AUS) 73-71-72, Namchok
TANTIPOKHAKUL (THA) 71-71-74, Scott BARR (AUS) 69-71-76.
217
- Khalin JOSHI (IND) 73-74-70, Charlie WI (KOR) 71-73-73, Gaganjeet
BHULLAR (IND) 74-69-74, Miguel TABUENA (PHI) 70-73-74, Shaun NORRIS
(RSA) 71-71-75.
218
- Soomin LEE (SKOR) 75-71-72, Peter EROFEJEFF (FIN) 75-72-71, Niall
TURNER (IRL) 73-72-73, George GANDRANATA (INA) 74-71-73, Steve LEWTON
(ENG) 75-74-69.
219
- Lionel WEBER (FRA) 75-71-73, Bongsub KIM (SKOR) 76-71-72, Natipong
SRITHONG (THA) 69-75-75, Shiv KAPUR (IND) 72-72-75, Antonio LASCUNA
(PHI) 75-73-71, Thaworn WIRATCHANT (THA) 76-68-75, Rashid KHAN
(IND) 75-69-75, Jazz JANEWATTANANOND (THA) 71-71-77.
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