NEWS AND SCORES FROM THE ASIAN DEVELOPMENTAL TOUR

                                                    

           

 

PRESS RELEASE

 

AIRIL STAYS IN THE HUNT AT THE PGM TERENGGANU MASTERS

 

Terengganu, Malaysia, August 23: Airil Rizman of Malaysia stayed in the title hunt at the PGM Terengganu Masters when he posted a third round one-over-par 72 to share the lead with Grant Jackson of England on Friday.

 

Jackson battled to a 68 to tie with Airil, who held a share of the lead since the opening day, on nine-under-par 204 at the RM200,000 (approximately US$65,000) Asian Development Tour (ADT) event.

 

Malaysia’s Shaaban Hussin, Sweden’s Malcolm Kokocinski and Man O IM of the United States recorded rounds of 68, 67 and 68 respectively to share third place at the Awana Kijal Golf & Beach Resort.

 

Australia’s Nabil Abdul was a further shot back while Indonesia’s Rory Hie and Japanese duo Takuya Yamauchi and Mitsuhiko Hashizume tied in seventh position on 207.

 

Darren Tan of Australia, the co-leader for two rounds, slipped back to tied 10^th place after shooting a 76.

 

Airil is determined to rediscover the magic in his opening two rounds as he aims to win his first ADT title.

 

“I played badly. I struggled with the distances. Hopefully I can regain my good form tomorrow,” said the Malaysian, who has won once on the Asian Tour in 2007.

 

Jackson, who is currently fifth on the ADT Order of Merit, is hoping to secure his second victory this season.

 

“I hit pretty nicely today. I drive well for a solid round. Scoring was tough today as it was quite windy. It got a little tricky too,” said the 31-year-old Englishman.

 

“I am looking forward to the final round tomorrow as I’m in a good position right now,” added Jackson, who marked his card with four birdies against one bogey.

 

Shaaban of Malaysia posted two birdies in each half but wobbled on the last hole when he dropped his only bogey of the day.

 

“I had a good round apart from the bogey. In fact, I’ve been playing consistently for the past two rounds as well. Hopefully I can play well on the last day,’ said Shaaban.

 

The top three players to finish on the ADT Order of Merit at the end of this season will receive Asian Tour cards for 2014.

 

All ADT events receive Official World Golf Ranking points, which will be used to determine the field for the World Cup of Golf in Melbourne in November and the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.

 

Winners on the ADT will receive a minimum of six world ranking points while the top six players and ties will earn points based on a sliding scale.

 

For more information on the ADT, please visit www.asiandevelopmenttour.com.

 

Leading third round scores:

204 - Grant JACKSON (ENG) 69 67 68, Airil Rizman ZAHARI (MAS) 65 67 72

205 - Malcolm KOKOCINSKI (SWE) 71 67 67, Man O IM (USA) 69 68 68, Shaaban HUSSIN (MAS) 69 68 68

206 - Nabil ABDUL (AUS) 67 69 70

207 - Takuya YAMAUCHI (JPN) 69 70 68, Rory HIE (INA) 69 67 71, Mitsuhiko HASHIZUME (JPN) 69 66 72

208 - R. Nachimuthu (MAS) 69 73 66, Adam MUDA (A) (MAS) 67 72 69, Iain STEEL (MAS) 70 68 70, Rufino BAYRON (PHI) 70 67 71, Darren TAN (AUS) 65 67 76

209 - Scott BARR (AUS) 68 72 69, Michael TRAN (VIE) 73 69 67, Nicholas PUA (MAS) 70 69 70

210 - Lindsay RENOLDS (CAN) 69 72 69, Sukree OTHMAN (MAS) 72 68 70, Mhark FERNANDO (PHI) 72 67 71, Carl SANTOS-OCAMPO (PHI) 70 69 71, George GANDRANATA (INA) 67 71 72