{"id":28974,"date":"2016-09-24T15:48:19","date_gmt":"2016-09-24T15:48:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/indiansportsnews.co.in\/?p=28974"},"modified":"2016-09-24T15:48:19","modified_gmt":"2016-09-24T15:48:19","slug":"fearless-phachara-stays-in-control-at-asia-pacific-diamond-cup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/indiansportsnews.co.in\/?p=28974","title":{"rendered":"Fearless Phachara stays in control at Asia-Pacific Diamond Cup"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"PhacharaOsaka, Japan: Thai prodigy Phachara Khongwatmai stayed on track to win a first Asian Tour title after carding a one-under-par 69 in the penultimate round of the Asia-Pacific Diamond Cup on Saturday<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/span>The overnight leader, who is only 17 years old, traded three birdies against two bogeys to continue his one-shot lead with an eight-under-par 202 total at the highly-acclaimed Ibaraki Country Club’s West course.<\/span><\/p>\n

Local prospect Ippei Koike reeled off 17 straight pars before closing with a birdie to put himself in second place on his own at the ¥150 million (approximately US$1.3 million) event sanctioned by the Asian Tour and the Japan Golf Tour.<\/span><\/p>\n

Korea’s Younghan Song, a one-time Asian Tour winner, returned with the day’s best score of 65 to stay three shots off the pace in third alongside Japan’s Kazuhiro Yamashita, who signed for a 69, at the Asia-Pacific Diamond Cup.<\/span><\/p>\n

Thitiphun Chuayprakong of Thailand and Daisuke Kataoka of Japan, who posted rounds of 71 and 69 respectively, were amongst those bunched in fifth place on 206 in the Japanese showpiece.<\/span><\/p>\n

“I am just disappointed with my iron-play. The rest was good, especially my short game. I wasn’t thinking much. I just played my own game. I told myself that I am playing against myself, not other players. I was focused on shooting under-par today,” smiled Phachara, who became the youngest winner on the Asian Development Tour at the age of 15.<\/span><\/p>\n

Playing in the event on a sponsor’s invitation, Phachara impressed with a brilliantly controlled round where he fired two birdies in his opening four holes before dropping a shot on fifth. He went on to add a birdie against a bogey on his way home.<\/span><\/p>\n

“I wasn’t feeling nervous. Nothing much was going through my mind really. I only looked at the leaderboard when I came up to the 18th green. If I win tomorrow<\/span><\/span>, it’s good for me. But if I don’t, it’s alright. It has been a great experience for me so far,” said the chilled-out Thai.<\/span><\/p>\n

“It was pretty challenging out there. I kept hitting it close to the bunkers and near the water hazards. I could have easily shot over-par with the way I am hitting my irons today but I am glad I managed to hang in there. I will keep things the same tomorrow<\/span><\/span>. Nothing changes,” Phachara added.<\/span><\/p>\n

Koike, who is chasing for a breakthrough win, lamented a cold putter but took it in his stride as he scored his first birdie on the last hole 18 after sinking 17 straight pars.<\/span><\/p>\n

“I played really well but I just couldn’t make putts. I missed about five or six birdie chances. The birdie on last was a relief. The golf course was playing difficult so I had to stay patient. If I can avoid making bogeys tomorrow<\/span><\/span>, I should be in a good position,” said the 31-year-old Japanese.<\/span><\/p>\n

Thitiphun was well in contention before stumbling with a double-bogey on 16 and a bogey on 17. Despite the setback, the 24-year-old Thai believes he still has a fighting chance to shoot for a second Asian Tour title on Sunday<\/span><\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

“I was hoping to play with Phachara in the final round but unfortunately I didn’t play well on the last few holes. The right ankle still hurts but I tried not to think about it. I actually played well before making costly mistakes on 16 and 17.<\/span><\/p>\n

“It’s great to see Phachara leading and playing so well. It motivates me to play well too. I gained a lot of confidence after winning in Bangladesh and I know I have the capabilities to win tournaments now. The season has been good so far. I hope to make it even sweeter with a good result tomorrow<\/span><\/span>,” said Thitiphun.<\/span><\/p>\n

Scores after round 3 of the Asia-Pacific Diamond Cup being played at the par 70, 7320 Yards Ibaraki CC course (am – denotes amateur):<\/span><\/p>\n

202 – Phachara KHONGWATMAI (THA) 66-67-69.<\/span><\/p>\n

203 – Ippei KOIKE (JPN) 67-67-69.<\/span><\/p>\n

205 – Younghan SONG (KOR) 72-68-65, Kazuhiro YAMASHITA (JPN) 69-67-69.<\/span><\/p>\n

206 – Brad KENNEDY (AUS) 71-66-69, Daisuke KATAOKA (JPN) 68-69-69, Satoshi KODAIRA (JPN) 64-72-70, Thitiphun CHUAYPRAKONG (THA) 66-69-71.<\/span><\/p>\n

207 – Tetsuji HIRATSUKA (JPN) 66-71-70, Sanghyun PARK (KOR) 68-68-71, Toru TANIGUCHI (JPN) 70-66-71, Michio MATSUMURA (JPN) 72-63-72.<\/span><\/p>\n

208 – Katsumasa MIYAMOTO (JPN) 70-72-66, Hideto TANIHARA (JPN) 67-73-68, LIANG Wen-chong (CHN) 71-69-68, Richard T. LEE (CAN) 70-70-68, Tadahiro TAKAYAMA (JPN) 70-70-68, CHAN Shih-chang (TPE) 71-68-69, Hidemasa HOSHINO (JPN) 71-67-70, Nicholas FUNG (MAS) 69-69-70, Takashi IWAMOTO (JPN) 66-71-71, Thaworn WIRATCHANT (THA) 69-68-71, Ryuko TOKIMATSU (JPN) 69-66-73, Shugo IMAHIRA (JPN) 65-69-74, Rikuya HOSHINO (JPN) 68-66-74.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\"PhacharaOsaka, Japan: Thai prodigy Phachara Khongwatmai stayed on track to win a first Asian Tour title after carding a one-under-par 69 in the penultimate round of the Asia-Pacific Diamond Cup on Saturday<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/span>The overnight leader, who is only 17 years old, traded three birdies against two bogeys to continue his one-shot lead with an eight-under-par 202 total at the highly-acclaimed Ibaraki Country Club’s West course.<\/span><\/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":[9],"tags":[17876,18110,13020],"class_list":["post-28974","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-golf-golf","tag-asia-pacific-diamond-cup","tag-ippei-koike","tag-phachara-khongwatmai"],"yoast_head":"\nFearless Phachara stays in control at Asia-Pacific Diamond Cup - IndianSportsNews.com - Latest Updated Sports News & Sports Blogs of Cricket, Hockey, Golf, Football, Tennis & Other Sports<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/indiansportsnews.co.in\/?p=28974\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Fearless Phachara stays in control at Asia-Pacific Diamond Cup - IndianSportsNews.com - Latest Updated Sports News & Sports Blogs of Cricket, Hockey, Golf, Football, Tennis & Other Sports\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Osaka, Japan: Thai prodigy Phachara Khongwatmai stayed on track to win a first Asian Tour title after carding a one-under-par 69 in the penultimate round of the Asia-Pacific Diamond Cup on Saturday The overnight leader, who is only 17 years old, traded three birdies against two bogeys to continue his one-shot lead with an eight-under-par 202 total at the highly-acclaimed Ibaraki Country Club’s West course.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/indiansportsnews.co.in\/?p=28974\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"IndianSportsNews.com - Latest Updated Sports News & Sports Blogs of Cricket, Hockey, Golf, Football, Tennis & Other Sports\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-09-24T15:48:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/indiansportsnews.co.in\\\/?p=28974#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/indiansportsnews.co.in\\\/?p=28974\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/indiansportsnews.co.in\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/b8f51f3c66686ab3518464e9b8368646\"},\"headline\":\"Fearless Phachara stays in control at Asia-Pacific Diamond Cup\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-09-24T15:48:19+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/indiansportsnews.co.in\\\/?p=28974\"},\"wordCount\":807,\"commentCount\":0,\"keywords\":[\"Asia-Pacific Diamond Cup\",\"Ippei Koike\",\"Phachara Khongwatmai\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Golf\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/indiansportsnews.co.in\\\/?p=28974#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/indiansportsnews.co.in\\\/?p=28974\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/indiansportsnews.co.in\\\/?p=28974\",\"name\":\"Fearless Phachara stays in control at Asia-Pacific Diamond Cup - IndianSportsNews.com - Latest Updated Sports News & Sports Blogs of Cricket, Hockey, Golf, Football, Tennis & Other Sports\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/indiansportsnews.co.in\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2016-09-24T15:48:19+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/indiansportsnews.co.in\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/b8f51f3c66686ab3518464e9b8368646\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/indiansportsnews.co.in\\\/?p=28974#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/indiansportsnews.co.in\\\/?p=28974\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/indiansportsnews.co.in\\\/?p=28974#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/indiansportsnews.co.in\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Fearless Phachara stays in control at Asia-Pacific Diamond Cup\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/indiansportsnews.co.in\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/indiansportsnews.co.in\\\/\",\"name\":\"IndianSportsNews.com - Latest Updated Sports News & Sports Blogs of Cricket, Hockey, Golf, Football, Tennis & Other Sports\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/indiansportsnews.co.in\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/indiansportsnews.co.in\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/b8f51f3c66686ab3518464e9b8368646\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/aaa92315b99cea76f3cb21975ca617077d7cd514d725861014bca1d7678c283b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/aaa92315b99cea76f3cb21975ca617077d7cd514d725861014bca1d7678c283b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/aaa92315b99cea76f3cb21975ca617077d7cd514d725861014bca1d7678c283b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/indiansportsnews.co.in\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/indiansportsnews.co.in\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Fearless Phachara stays in control at Asia-Pacific Diamond Cup - IndianSportsNews.com - Latest Updated Sports News & Sports Blogs of Cricket, Hockey, Golf, Football, Tennis & Other Sports","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/indiansportsnews.co.in\/?p=28974","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Fearless Phachara stays in control at Asia-Pacific Diamond Cup - IndianSportsNews.com - Latest Updated Sports News & Sports Blogs of Cricket, Hockey, Golf, Football, Tennis & Other Sports","og_description":"Osaka, Japan: Thai prodigy Phachara Khongwatmai stayed on track to win a first Asian Tour title after carding a one-under-par 69 in the penultimate round of the Asia-Pacific Diamond Cup on Saturday The overnight leader, who is only 17 years old, traded three birdies against two bogeys to continue his one-shot lead with an eight-under-par 202 total at the highly-acclaimed Ibaraki Country Club’s West course.","og_url":"https:\/\/indiansportsnews.co.in\/?p=28974","og_site_name":"IndianSportsNews.com - Latest Updated Sports News & Sports Blogs of Cricket, Hockey, Golf, Football, Tennis & Other Sports","article_published_time":"2016-09-24T15:48:19+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/indiansportsnews.co.in\/?p=28974#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/indiansportsnews.co.in\/?p=28974"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/indiansportsnews.co.in\/#\/schema\/person\/b8f51f3c66686ab3518464e9b8368646"},"headline":"Fearless Phachara stays in control at Asia-Pacific Diamond Cup","datePublished":"2016-09-24T15:48:19+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/indiansportsnews.co.in\/?p=28974"},"wordCount":807,"commentCount":0,"keywords":["Asia-Pacific Diamond Cup","Ippei Koike","Phachara Khongwatmai"],"articleSection":["Golf"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/indiansportsnews.co.in\/?p=28974#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/indiansportsnews.co.in\/?p=28974","url":"https:\/\/indiansportsnews.co.in\/?p=28974","name":"Fearless Phachara stays in control at Asia-Pacific Diamond Cup - IndianSportsNews.com - Latest Updated Sports News & Sports Blogs of Cricket, Hockey, Golf, Football, Tennis & Other Sports","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/indiansportsnews.co.in\/#website"},"datePublished":"2016-09-24T15:48:19+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/indiansportsnews.co.in\/#\/schema\/person\/b8f51f3c66686ab3518464e9b8368646"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/indiansportsnews.co.in\/?p=28974#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/indiansportsnews.co.in\/?p=28974"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/indiansportsnews.co.in\/?p=28974#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/indiansportsnews.co.in\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Fearless Phachara stays in control at Asia-Pacific Diamond Cup"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/indiansportsnews.co.in\/#website","url":"https:\/\/indiansportsnews.co.in\/","name":"IndianSportsNews.com - Latest Updated Sports News & Sports Blogs of Cricket, Hockey, Golf, Football, Tennis & Other Sports","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/indiansportsnews.co.in\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/indiansportsnews.co.in\/#\/schema\/person\/b8f51f3c66686ab3518464e9b8368646","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/aaa92315b99cea76f3cb21975ca617077d7cd514d725861014bca1d7678c283b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/aaa92315b99cea76f3cb21975ca617077d7cd514d725861014bca1d7678c283b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/aaa92315b99cea76f3cb21975ca617077d7cd514d725861014bca1d7678c283b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/indiansportsnews.co.in"],"url":"https:\/\/indiansportsnews.co.in\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/indiansportsnews.co.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28974","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/indiansportsnews.co.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/indiansportsnews.co.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indiansportsnews.co.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indiansportsnews.co.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=28974"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/indiansportsnews.co.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28974\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/indiansportsnews.co.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=28974"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indiansportsnews.co.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=28974"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indiansportsnews.co.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=28974"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}