Thailand made their presence felt on the third day of the Professional Golf of Malaysia (PGM) Tour’s Terengganu Championship as two of their players swept to the top of the leaderboard at Resorts World Kijal today.
Atthaphon and Panuwat moved to eight-under 208 totals for a share of the lead at the RM200,000 event that is co-sanctioned with the Asian Development Tour, and carries world ranking points.
Atthaphon fired the low round of the day, a seven-under-par 64, while Panuwat carded a 67.
American Shane Smith shot a 69 and was third another two shots back, while Itthipat Buranatanyarat (68) also of Thailand and Finland’s Janne Kaske (69) were tied for fourth on 208.
Joint overnight leader Masaru Takahashi of Japan shot a 71 and slipped to sixth on 209.
Pleased with his performance today, Atthaphon, who turned pro in 2000, said he had no special game plan for tomorrow as he bids for the title and was just hoping to enjoy his time out on the course.
“There is no special game plan for me tomorrow,” he said. “I will go out there and do my best and hopefully it will be enough to win.
“I am just out to make my golf enjoyable and play as well as I can,” he added.
Meanwhile, 30-year-old Panuwat, who won the Singha Thailand PGA title in 2009 as his biggest victory yet, said his short-game and putting were “very good” today.
“I am happy with how I played. I hit my wedges very well and I putted good too,” he said. “I hope I can do the same tomorrow and then see where it leaves me.”
Leading third round scores:
205 – Atthaphon SRIBOONKAEW (THA) 68-71-66, Panuwat MUENLEK (THA) 70-68-67
207 – Shane SMITH (USA) 68-70-69
208 – Itthipat BURANATANYARAT (THA) 68-72-68, Janne KASKE (FIN) 72-67-69
209 – Masaru TAKAHASHI (JPN) 71-67-71
210 – LAM Chih Bing (SIN) 72-69-69, Jordan SHERRATT (AUS) 72-68-70
