S African goes seven shots clear after 11-under 

61 in Myanmar Open

ASIAN TOUR NEWS RELEASE

Yangon: South Africa’s Shaun Norris left the chasing pack in his wake by storming up the leaderboard with a sensational 11-under-par 61 in the third round of the Leopalace21 Myanmar Open today. 

Norris, a one-time Asian Tour winner, opened up a commanding seven-shot lead with a three-day total of 23-under-par 193 at the Royal Mingalardon Golf and Country Club.

Japan’s Azuma Yano provided the day’s other highlight when he holed out with his second shot at the par-5 14th

Norris was a man on fire starting from the par-four first. He set the blistering pace with six birdies and an eagle through eight holes before a lone bogey on nine momentarily put the brakes on his charge. 

“I was not very sure about the yardage there and the last place you want to be on the greens is far away from the pin. I basically bailed out on that shot, left it to the right of the green and did not get a good up and down,” said Norris.

After turning in 29, the South African enjoyed another sparkling homeward-nine with another four birdies on holes 11, 13, 15 and 17.

“It was definitely a very exciting day. Right from the start, everything went well. I could read the line and was striking it well, hitting the ball into places which I wanted it to be.

“I was always thinking of that magical 59. I hit a good putt on 16 but only managed a par. Unfortunately the wind turned on us on 18 so I couldn’t really go for it as it was out of reach,” said Norris. 

Yano enjoyed a defining moment in his career with his first albatross.

The Japanese used his seven-iron second shot to perfection on the par-five 14 after a long drive put him within reach of the green in two.

THIRD-ROUND LEADERBOARD

Par 216 (3x72). Yardage: 7,218

193 - Shaun NORRIS (RSA) 66-66-61.

200 - Junwon PARK (SKOR) 73-64-63, Azuma YANO (JPN) 66-68-66, Jeunghun WANG (SKOR) 66-68-66, S S P CHAWRASIA (IND) 66-66-68.

203 - Rahil GANGJEE (IND) 71-66-66, Kalem RICHARDSON (AUS) 69-67-67, Thanyakon KHRONGPHA (THA) 68-68-67, Ryutaro NAGANO (JPN) 71-65-67, Danny CHIA (MAS) 65-70-68, Casey O'TOOLE (USA) 71-69-63.

204 - Chapchai NIRAT (THA) 68-70-66, Yasunobu FUKUNAGA (JPN) 70-68-66, Prayad MARKSAENG (THA) 67-70-67, Wonjoon LEE (AUS) 71-66-67, Keith HORNE (RSA) 72-63-69, Younghan SONG (SKOR) 67-68-69, Sam BRAZEL (AUS) 66-67-71.

205 - Soomin LEE (SKOR) 71-66-68, Arjun ATWAL (IND) 68-67-70, Yikeun CHANG (SKOR) 69-65-71, Rashid KHAN (IND) 67-66-72.

206 - Berry HENSON (USA) 70-68-68, Yuta IKEDA (JPN) 69-69-68, Yosuke TSUKADA (JPN) 69-69-68, Nicholas FUNG (MAS) 68-69-69, Dodge KEMMER (USA) 68-70-68, Carlos PIGEM (ESP) 69-69-68, Narutoshi YAMAOKA (JPN) 68-69-69, Panuphol PITTAYARAT (THA) 72-67-67, K.T. KIM (KOR) 69-66-71.