Penang, Malaysia: Danny Chia of Malaysia maintained his momentum at the PGM Bukit Jawi Championship after shooting a third round three-under-par 69 to lead by two shots on Friday.<\/p>\n
The 42-year-old, who held the share of the lead since the opening round, stayed on track for a third Asian Development Tour (ADT) win after firing a three-day total of 14-under-par 202 at the RM200,000 (approximately US$50,000) event.<\/p>\n
Casey O’Toole of the United States saved a crucial par on the last hole as he returned with a 69 to remain in the hunt for a first career victory at the Bukit Jawi Golf Resort. Thailand’s Itthipat Buranatanyarat and Poom Saksansin posted matching 69s to trail Chia by four and five shots respectively.<\/p>\n
Chia started nervously when he bogeyed the fifth hole before turning in 35 as he struggled with poor iron shots. He battled on with three more birdies which included a five-foot birdie on the par three 12th hole before dropping a disappointing bogey on the last hole.<\/p>\n
“I didn’t have a good finish but I’m quite happy with the result because I didn’t strike the ball well today. My short game has always been quite good and that saved my round especially on my first five holes,” said Chia.<\/p>\n
“I was nervous and I was very conscious about missing the greens but I saved pars. I birdied the 12th hole from five feet and that was the turning point. I want to win but when I step out on the tee tomorrow, my goal is to just play my own game. I need a decent ball striking day and if I can do that, then it should be good enough to win,” he said.<\/p>\n
O’Toole, ranked second on the Order of Merit, made a 12-foot par save on the last hole to keep his title hopes alive after trading four birdies against one bogey.<\/p>\n
“I feel that my game is good but a lot of guys are still in it. I didn’t take advantage of the par fives today so I will try and do that tomorrow. The course is set up for a low round so I’ll try to go as low as I can,” said O’Toole.<\/p>\n
The ADT will continue to reward the top-five finishers on the Order of Merit at the end of this season with Asian Tour cards for 2016.<\/p>\n
With the Olympic Games looming in 2016 where golf will be reintroduced as a medal sport, players in the region could earn their spots in Rio de Janeiro by earning Official World Golf Ranking points through the Asian Tour and ADT.<\/p>\n
For more information on the ADT, please visit www.asiandevelopmenttour.com<\/p>\n
Leading third round scores:<\/strong><\/p>\n 202 – Danny CHIA (MAS) 67 66 69 Penang, Malaysia: Danny Chia of Malaysia maintained his momentum at the PGM Bukit Jawi Championship after shooting a third round three-under-par 69 to lead by two shots on Friday.<\/p>\n The 42-year-old, who held the share of the lead since the opening round, stayed on track for a third Asian Development Tour (ADT) win after firing a three-day total of 14-under-par 202 at the RM200,000 (approximately US$50,000) event.<\/p>\n Casey O’Toole of the United States saved a crucial par on the last hole as he returned with a 69 to remain in the hunt for a first career victory at the Bukit Jawi Golf Resort. Thailand’s Itthipat Buranatanyarat and Poom Saksansin posted matching 69s to trail Chia by four and five shots respectively.<\/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-23213","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-world-golf-news"],"yoast_head":"\n
204 – Casey O’TOOLE (USA) 68 67 69
206 – Itthipat BURANATANYARAT (THA) 67 70 69
207 – Poom SAKSANSIN (THA) 68 70 69
208 – Josh SALAH (USA) 68 70 70
209 – Ratchapol JANTAVARA (THA) 70 69 70, Sean RIORDAN (NZL) 68 71 70, Jordan SHERRATT (AUS) 67 70 72
210 – Masaru TAKAHASHI (JPN) 69 73 68, Kemarol BAHARIN (MAS) 71 68 71, Nitithorn THIPPONG (THA) 68 69 73
211 – Rory HIE (INA) 69 72 70
212 – Rudy THUILLIER (FRA) 70 72 70, Atthaphon SRIBOONKAEW (THA) 68 71 73<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"