Yangon, Myanmar: Thailand\u2019s Chawalit Plaphol sensationally grabbed the third round lead with a critical birdie on the last for four-under-par 68 at the US$300,000 Zaykabar Myanmar Open presented by Alpine on Saturday.<\/p>\n
Chawalit, a three-time Asian Tour winner, leads by one-shot over Kiradech Aphibarnrat, who slipped to second despite saving par on the last when his tee shot found water for a 71 at the Royal Mingalardon Golf and Country Club.<\/p>\n
Filipino Angelo Que was flawless in a round of 66 as he shared third place with opening round leader Chapchai Nirat (67) of Thailand at the event which is the first tournament on the Asian Tour\u2019s 10th season.<\/p>\n
Rahil Gangjee of India, Arnond Vongvanij of Thailand and Darren Beck of Australia were a further shot back in fifth.<\/p>\n
On a blustery day, Chawalit held a two-shot cushion after three straight birdies from the 12th hole but he posted a double bogey on 16 when he hit a poor second shot into the left rough.<\/p>\n
\u201cOverall I played okay except for two bad holes. But I\u2019m happy with how I played. I followed my game plan and it seems to be working. I\u2019m lucky I had that 15 footer birdie on the last to hold the lead,\u201d said the 2011 Queen\u2019s Cup winner, who totalled 15-under-par 201.<\/p>\n
Chawalit is hoping to add a fourth Asian Tour title to his career but he is not taking his slim lead for granted as 17 other players are within five shots of the lead.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want to win but this golf course favours the long hitters like Kiradech. He is such a good player and I have so many other talented players trailing closely behind,\u201d said the 38-year-old.<\/p>\n
After leading in the last two days, Kiradech, who is recovering from a thyroid disorder, is confident of making a final round charge.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou must have one bad round in four days of golf. I controlled my round and was happy with a one-under. Today was quite windy so that\u2019s why you don\u2019t see many low scores,\u201d said Kiradech, who lost in a play-off last year.<\/p>\n
Que, a three-time Asian Tour winner but not since 2010, was delighted to be in the mix after charging up the leaderboard with six birdies.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery time you shoot a six-under without any bogeys is a great day and I\u2019ve been in this situation before. I know how to handle myself and if I stay patient then I can do it,\u201d said Que, known to be one of the most jovial players on Tour.<\/p>\n
Scores after round 3 of the ZAYKABAR MYANMAR OPEN being played at the par 72, 7218 Yards RMGcC course (a- denotes amateur):<\/strong><\/p>\n 201 – Chawalit PLAPHOL (THA) 67-66-68. Yangon, Myanmar: Thailand\u2019s Chawalit Plaphol sensationally grabbed the third round lead with a critical birdie on the last for four-under-par 68 at the US$300,000 Zaykabar Myanmar Open presented by Alpine on Saturday.<\/p>\n Chawalit, a three-time Asian Tour winner, leads by one-shot over Kiradech Aphibarnrat, who slipped to second despite saving par on the last when his tee shot found water for a 71 at the Royal Mingalardon Golf and Country Club.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13100","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-world-golf-news"],"yoast_head":"\n
202 – Kiradech APHIBARNRAT (THA) 64-67-71.
203 – Angelo QUE (PHI) 69-68-66, Chapchai NIRAT (THA) 64-72-67.
204 – Rahil GANGJEE (IND) 71-66-67, Arnond VONGVANIJ (THA) 68-67-69, Darren BECK (AUS) 66-69-69.
205 – Thammanoon SRIROJ (THA) 69-70-66, Mardan MAMAT (SIN) 67-69-69, HUNG Chien-yao (TPE) 67-67-71, Marcus BOTH (AUS) 68-66-71, Joonas GRANBERG (FIN) 65-69-71.
206 – Young NAM (KOR) 66-73-67, Mithun PERERA (SRI) 71-68-67, Danny CHIA (MAS) 68-70-68, Berry HENSON (USA) 70-68-68, HWANG In-choon (KOR) 66-70-70, Lionel WEBER (FRA) 67-69-70.
207 – Quincy QUEK (SIN) 71-69-67, Thaworn WIRATCHANT (THA) 71-67-69, David LUTTERUS (AUS) 70-67-70, BAEK Seuk-hyun (KOR) 67-68-72, Thanyakon KHRONGPHA (THA) 66-67-74.
208 – Daisuke KATAOKA (JPN) 74-67-67, Tim STEWART (AUS) 71-70-67, Himmat RAI (IND) 70-71-67, Dodge KEMMER (USA) 69-71-68, KIM Seng-yong (KOR) 72-66-70, Prom MEESAWAT (THA) 65-72-71, HU Mu (CHN) 67-70-71.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"