South Korea's Mo Joong-kyung grabbed a share of the lead at the Thailand PGA Championship yesterday, leaving him on the brink of ending a 12-year drought on the Asian tour.
A three-under third round of 69 saw him catch overnight leader Filipino Juvic Pagusan who shot 71 at the US$300,000 tournament at Santiburi Country Club in Chiang Rai, leaving both players on 14-under totals of 202.
Mo, 36, who posted his lone victory in the region at the 1996 Guam Open, sparkled on the back nine, hitting an eagle and three birdies against two bogeys.
PHOTO: AFP
“I told myself to shoot two or three-under on the back nine as there are some par-fives which are reachable in two,” he said. “I’m pleased with the way I played. I’ve not won for a long time on the Asian Tour, but I’ve won four times in Korea since that win, the last being in 2006. We’ll see what happens tomorrow.”
Mo produced his best shot of the round at the par-five 13th hole when he fired a five-iron approach to within a foot for a tap-in eagle.
“That was really nice,” he said.
Pagunsan’s smooth-flowing game stuttered in the heat of battle yesterday as he carded two birdies against a lone bogey, a far cry from his second round 63.
“It was a tough day playing with these two guys. The putts weren’t going in, so hopefully it’ll be better tomorrow. I didn’t have any rhythm with my swing and I hit some poor drives,” said the 30-year-old Filipino, who is chasing a second Asian Tour victory. “I still have a chance to win.”
Home favorite Prayad Marksaeng, on the back of two straight victories in Japan, stumbled down the stretch for a 73 to slip to three shots back in joint third place with Malaysia’s Ben Leong (66) and American Han Lee (68).
“I got a bit tired toward the end and didn’t play very well. I made some mistakes but the good thing is that I’m only three behind,” the 42-year-old Thai said.
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