KUALA LUMPUR: Canadian James Du Toit heads into the final round of the Malaysian Open Golf Championship with a slender one-stroke lead over Australian Kevin Yuan after carding a 62 for a three-day total of 17-under 196 score and the overall lead.
Du Toit carded a brilliant third-round score of nine-under 62 at The Mines Resort & Golf Club in Seri Kembangan, delighting the fans with 10 birdies and one bogey to stay in contention with joint overnight leader Kevin who shot three-under 68 today.
Kevin carded one birdie and two bogeys on the front nine and came back strongly with four birdies on the back nine.
“Got off to a nice start, made a nice birdie on the first hole, and just kind of kept it going. Hit a lot of quality shots on the smart side of the hole, and the putter got hot for me, and I made a couple.
“Probably the hole of my tournament was the bogey on 14, the par-three. I hit it in the water, did not hit a great wedge shot but made an 18 footer. That kept the momentum going. Just all in all a great day,” he told reporters.
American John Catlin retained third place after registering a round of 15-under 198.
It is tight on the leaderboard with four golfers just three strokes behind the leader at 14-under 199 while six others are bunched together at 13-under 200.
The other co-leader at the start of the day from Malaysia V. Khavish Varman slipped back with 72 and is five off the pace, along with compatriot Ervin Chang, who carded a 69. Both of them are tied for 14th place with 12-under 201.
“I’m frustrated. Not my best performance. I started off really well but couldn’t really make anything else going from there. I had one birdie, one eagle and one bogey in today’s round. I missed a lot of birdies. Didn’t hit a lot of greens.
“Gave myself some opportunities but couldn’t score but overall just frustrated that I couldn’t really make any good putts today,” Ervin said.-Bernama