GRANT Jackson of England and Chinese Taipei’s Chan Shih-chang were tied after the third round of the PGM Lada Langkawi Championship after shooting matching 15-under-par 201s on Wednesday.
Jackson and Chan, both Asian Development Tour (ADT) champions, posted a 69 and 70 respectively to lead by one from Thailand’s Poosit Supupramai at the Gunung Raya Golf Resort.
Japanese duo Masaru Takahashi and Senroku Isa stayed in the hunt for their first ADT win following rounds of 68 and 70 to tie for fourth, two shots back from the leaders at the RM250,000 (approximately US$80,000) ADT tournament.
Jackson, who missed out on an Asian Tour card last year, got off to fast start where he was five-under through 13 holes before slipping back with two bogeys on holes 14 and 17.
“I got off to a fast start and that’s what I wanted to do because I was trailing heading into today’s round. It was quite tricky out there and I didn’t hit enough greens on the back to give myself chances. When I had the chance to score, I left my putts short. I didn’t quite get the pace of the greens today
“I played here last year and I know what to expect. I just needed to refresh my memory. I’ve won here before so I have a bit of an advantage but so did Chan. It will be an exciting final round,” said Jackson, who finished tied 27th in last year’s edition.
Chinese Taipei’s Chan was disappointed not to seize the outright lead after missing two short par putts in a round of six birdies against four bogeys.
“The round was okay but I’m a bit disappointed because I missed two easy pars. My putting was not at its best. It is going to be an exciting final day. Jackson is a veteran on the ADT so he will be tough to beat,” said Chan, winner of the 2013 PGM UMW Sabah Classic.
Rizal Amin was the best placed Malaysian after day three in tied 12th position following a superb 67 on the holiday isle of Langkawi.
Leading third round scores:
201 – Grant JACKSON (ENG) 64 68 69, CHAN Shih-Chang (TPE) 64 67 70
202 – Poosit SUPUPRAMAI (THA) 66 64 72
203 – Masaru TAKAHASHI (JPN) 68 67 68, Senroku ISA (JPN) 69 64 70
204 – Pasamet POGAMNERD (THA) 67 68 69, Blair WILSON (AUS) 68 66 70
205 – KOH Deng Shan (SIN) 67 68 70
206 – TSENG Hong-sheng (TPE) 72 65 69, Peter RICHARDSON (ENG) 69 68 69, Tirawat KAEWSIRIBANDIT (THA) 68 69 69
207 – Philip MATSSON (THA) 72 68 67, Suppakorn UTHAIPAT (THA) 69 69 69, Rizal AMIN (MAS) 68 72 67, Rattanon WANNASRICHAN (THA) 68 69 70, Mitsuhiko HASHIZUME (JPN) 68 69 70
208 – B. K. SOBHANI (USA) 71 68 69, Konosuke NAKAZATO (JPN) 69 69 70, Jordan SHERRATT (AUS) 69 72 67
209 – HSIEH Tung-shu (TPE) 67 72 70, Jakraphan PREMSIRIGORN (THA) 74 66 69, Wisut ARTJANAWAT (THA) 70 70 69, Shaaban HUSSIN (MAS) 68 69 72, Pavit TANGKAMOLPRASERT (THA) 68 69 72, Shaifubari MUDA (MAS) 69 68 72
