Golf: Ajeetesh Sandhu lies T-36; three-way lead at the top at Singapore Open

Singapore, Nov 8 (IANS) A third straight under-par round by India's Ajeetesh Sandhu saw him climb 14 places up the leaderboard to Tied-36 position after the third round at the Moutai Singapore Open here on Saturday.

Sandhu added a 2-under 70 to his earlier rounds of 70 and 69 here at the Singapore Island Country Club to finish round three at a score of 7-under 209. He is currently 8 shots off the leader group at the US$2 million event with one round to play. Ajeetesh's round promised a lot more today and comprised 5 birdies in all, but three bogeys in between set him back from a stronger finish on the moving day.

Meanwhile, it was neck-and-neck all the way until the very end on Saturday at Singapore before overnight leader Soomin Lee from Korea, in front at the start of the day, edged ahead to lead after the third round with compatriot Jeunghun Wang and James Piot from the United States.

Lee, two ahead after round two, shot a 69 today, while Wang and Piot both returned 67s – on the New Course at Singapore Island Country Club. They lead on 15 under by one from Japan’s Yosuke Asaji (65) and Korean Bio Kim (67), in what is the penultimate event of the season on The International Series – the set of upper-tier events on the Asian Tour that offer a pathway to the LIV Golf League.

Thailand’s Jazz Janewattananond (68), the winner of this event in 2019 at a different venue, is another stroke back, along with Australian Kevin Yuan and South Africa’s Ian Snyman, both in with 69s.

Lee finished second on this course in the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship in 2011 and will look to go one better tomorrow.

He birdied the par-five 18th after reaching the green in two to catch Wang and Piot to give himself a great chance of winning his first title on the Asian Tour and The International Series. He was bogey-free and made three birdies, the other two coming on the front nine.

“It was really tough today, actually,” said Lee. “On the front nine, I had good opportunities, but I made mistakes on a few putts, and still I shot two under. And then on the back nine, I thought my back nine would be better than the front nine. I had many chances to make birdies. But it started getting windy when I played the back nine. It was really tough, and I struggled, but yeah, I still played bogey-free. And even at the last hole, I made a long two-putt for a birdie. Yeah, that was really good.”

The 32-year-old turned professional three years after the Asia-Pacific Amateur and has won once before on the DP World Tour, at the 2016 Shenzhen International, and is a five-time winner on the Korean PGA Tour. He has played on the Asian Tour for the past decade, finishing second on two occasions. He recorded a top-10 finish in the International Series Philippines two weeks ago. “I will just play my own game tomorrow. I think I’ll play with Jeunghun Wang so it'll be really fun,” he added.

Wang is a multiple-time tour winner, with three victories on the DP World Tour, including one joint-sanctioned with the Asian Tour, the 2016 AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open, but he has not tasted victory in seven years. He showed his class today with a fine round, made up of six birdies and one bogey, and will need to draw on those previous wins to end his drought on Sunday.

“Actually, I hit it really well today, but my putting wasn't as good yesterday. So, I'm really happy about my round, and I’ll try to enjoy my next 18 holes. Actually, the first round it wasn't windy that much, but the second and third rounds were really windy, so I'm really happy about my five under today,” he said.

Piot, the 2021 US Amateur champion, only started playing on the Asian Tour three years ago and is chasing his first win on the Tour. His best result to date is a fifth-place finish in the International Series Egypt in 2022. He also birdied the last to draw level and was bogey-free. Birdies on the first two holes provided the perfect start for the 27-year-old.

Asaji tied for second in the International Series Philippines presented by BingoPlus two weeks ago, while earlier this year, she won one of the biggest events in Japan: The Crowns tournament. He has put himself on the brink of another win tomorrow, shooting the best round of the day. He missed an eight-footer for birdie on the last.

“This week it’s been difficult to read the lines on the green, so I’ve been very focused on reading my putts,” he said. “I’ll try to play the same as today, and I just hope to go out there and enjoy myself tomorrow,” he said.

Filipino Miguel Tabuena returned a 70 and is 10 under and extremely well placed to make up ground on the Asian Tour Order of Merit and The International Series leaders. Scott Vincent from Zimbabwe, who tops The International Series Rankings, and Kazuki Higa from Japan, the merit list leader, both failed to make it through to the weekend. Tabuena is second on the rankings and third on the merit list.

--IANS

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