Thailand’s Jazz Janewattananond clung on to his lead after draining a 17-foot birdie putt on the last to share the spoils with Gaganjeet Bhullar of India, who posted a second straight six-under-par 65, at the Queen’s Cup presented by Bangchak on Saturday.
The 22-year-old Jazz, who held a share of the overnight three-shot lead, birdied the par-five second hole and reeled in 12 straight pars before sinking back-to-back birdies from 15. He dropped a shot on 17 but recovered with the birdie on the last for a round of 68.
Jazz, chasing for a second Asian Tour win, sits atop the leaderboard with Bhullar on 15-under-par 198 total while Pavit Tangkamolprasert of Thailand trails the leading duo by one in third place on his own following a 65 at the highly-rated Phoenix Gold Golf and Country Club.
Scott Vincent of Zimbabwe returned with the day’s best score of a 63 to sit two shots off the pace in tied-fourth position alongside local amateur Sadom Kaewkanjana and overnight co-leader Sihwan Kim of the United States, who carded rounds of 66 and 70 respectively.
The US$300,000 Queen’s Cup, held in honour of Her Majesty Queen Sirikit, is celebrating its 10th straight edition on the Asian Tour with a new presenting sponsor in Bangchak Corporation, one of Thailand’s leading energy companies, this week.
Did you know?
- Jane Janewattananond has dropped only two shots so far this week.
- Jazz will be making his Major debut at The Open at Carnoustie next month. He earned the coveted spot after finishing tied-fourth at the season-opening SMBC Singapore Open, which was part of The Open Qualifying Series.
- Jazz missed only one cut in 10 starts on Tour to sit in a current 16th place on the 2018 Asian Tour Habitat for Humanity Standings.
- He came in runner-up at the Queen’s Cup last year, finishing just one shot back of winner Nicholas Fung of Malaysia.
- Jazz won his first Asian Tour title at the 2017 Bangladesh Open by four shots. The victory was especially sweet for him as he finished outside the top-60 on the 2016 Order of Merit and missed the grade at the 2017 Qualifying School. He went on to notch five other top-10s to finish a career-high 13th place on the Order of Merit.
- Gaganjeet Bhullar is an eight-time winner on the Asian Tour. He claimed his eighth victory at the Macao Open last year and became the youngest player to win eight titles on the region’s premier Tour.
- The 30-year-old Bhullar came in second runner-up when he last played the Royal Cup at the Phoenix Gold Golf and Country Club six months ago.
- Pavit Tangakamolprasert fired one birdie and one eagle to turn in 33. Dropped a shot on 13 but stormed home with four birdies in his closing five holes to cap his best round so far this week.
- Pavit battled against a wrist injury to claim a record sixth ADT victory on home soil last month.
- Pavit was crowned the 2014 ADT Order of Merit champion, after winning three titles on the secondary circuit that year.
- Pavit won his first Asian Tour title at the 2016 Venetian Macao Open in sensational style by defeating Anirban Lahiri of India on the first play-off hole.
- Pavit won the 2014 Singha Open on his local circuit at the Phoenix Gold Golf and Country Club. The tournament was also played on the Mountain and Ocean courses, same as the Queen’s Cup this week.
- Pavit sits in 46th place on the Habitat for Humanity Standings. His best result this season is a tied-13th place finish at the Thailand Open earlier this month.
- Scott Vincent is the only Zimbabwean member on the Asian Tour. He came through the Qualifying School in 2016 and did not miss a single cut in six starts on the Asian Tour that year.
- Vincent claimed four top-10s in 2017 to finish in 17th place on the Order of Merit, retaining his Asian Tour card for the 2018 season.
- He has capped three top-10 finishes this season to sit in a current ninth place on the Asian Tour Habitat for Humanity Standings.
Players’ quotes:
Jazz Janewattananond (Tha) –Third round 66 (-8), Total 198 (-15)
It was a slow round for me today. Made only one birdie and then a lot of pars, didn’t birdie again until later in the round. It was a pretty good finish with three birdies and one bogey. It was quite tough out there with the wind.
I wasn’t able to play my ‘A’ game today but I tried my best to get the job done. I just wanted to shoot an under-par round with this windy condition. I hit a good shot out of the bunker on 15 was good and that birdie kind of got my momentum going.
I just want to go out there and play my best gold tomorrow. If things go my way, I will win. But if it doesn’t, I still have a lot of opportunities with the remaining tournaments I have to play. It’s been good since I won in Bangladesh last year.
That victory turned my career around completely. I feel like my game has been moving towards the right direction since that win. I am happy to put myself in contention week in week out. I just need to get the job done. I guess it’s just live and learn, we’ll just go out and have fun tomorrow.
Gaganjeet Bhullar (Ind) – Third round 65 (-6), Total 198 (-15)
I kept the ball in play today. I hit a lot of fairways and a lot of greens. I just kept on giving myself a lot of birdie opportunities. I got my first birdie on the fourth and made a good par save on the sixth. I drove into the water hazard and had to take a drop there. Hit my second shot onto the green and two-putted for par.
I made a really good birdie on the ninth. I hit my driver off the tee and had about 142 yards to the stick and I hit it to about six inches for birdie there. I made three straight birdies after the turn which was great. The only bogey I had was on the 17th hole and that was a total misread off my club.
Nothing special tomorrow. I will just continue to do my own thing and try and repeat what I did in the last 54 holes. The game’s feeling good. I will focus on hitting as many fairways and greens as I can tomorrow and hopefully hole some putts.
Pavit Tangkamolprasert (Tha) – Third round 65 (-6), Total 199 (-14)
I played the same today, still pretty solid. I hit good drives out there. Didn’t make any putts on the front nine but I managed to hit it close for birdie on the fifth and then make the eagle on the seventh. I hit a good drive with a three-wood and then a solid five-iron over the trees which took a bounce on the green and rolled to about half a foot for eagle.
I struggled to read the greens today. I just couldn’t get it right, especially for the first 10 to 11 holes. But I managed to find back the touch after that. The birdie on 14 gave me a lot of confidence. I sank a long putt from about 20-feet for birdie on 17. It was a great finish.
The wind was swirling out there today. It was difficult to get the directions right. The pin positions were pretty tough on the back nine as well. I will try my best tomorrow. It has been two years since I first won on the Asian Tour. Anything can happen tomorrow.
I played with the local amateur Sadom today. He seems shaky at the start and he told me he hasn’t played with me before. He got comfortable heading into the round and he played really good today. I am happy to see that we have such a strong amateur around.
Scott Vincent (Zim) -Third round 63 (-8), Total 200 (-13)
I got off to a great start. Managed to make a few putts and get to five-under on the front nine. Started the back nine with three birdies in a row and looking like I could put a really low score out today but I kind of just hung in there in the last six holes.
Six pars coming back and some were really good par saves. All in all, it was a good day. I hit the driver very well today. I hit 11 fairways. It gave me some opportunities to attack the pins. I made quite a lot of putts as well. It was just a solid round.
I hit a good tee shot on the first straight down the fairway, wedged to about six feet and had a downhill left to right putt and made that. That just got my momentum going. I just kept telling myself to keep it going. If I can do the same tomorrow, I should be in a pretty good shape.
Scores after round 3 of the Queen’s Cup presented by Bangchak being played at the par 71, 6951 Yards Phoenix GC course (am – denotes amateur):
198 – Gaganjeet BHULLAR (IND) 68-65-65, Jazz JANEWATTANANOND (THA) 64-66-68.
199 – Pavit TANGKAMOLPRASERT (THA) 67-67-65.
200 – Scott VINCENT (ZIM) 66-71-63, Sadom KAEWKANJANA (am, THA) 70-64-66, Sihwan KIM (USA) 66-64-70.
202 – Miguel TABUENA (PHI) 67-66-69, Poom SAKSANSIN (THA) 63-70-69.
203 – Naras LUANGPHETCHARAPORN (THA) 68-69-66, Dino A. GIACOMAZZI (USA) 66-68-69.
204 – Rattanon WANNASRICHAN (THA) 69-68-67, Rashid KHAN (IND) 69-67-68, Tanapat PICHAIKOOL (am, THA) 68-68-68, Chinnarat PHADUNGSIL (THA) 71-65-68.
205 – Panuphol PITTAYARAT (THA) 69-69-67, Paul PETERSON (USA) 65-72-68, Ben CAMPBELL (NZL) 67-70-68, Natipong SRITHONG (THA) 66-70-69, Jbe KRUGER (RSA) 66-70-69, Jarin TODD (USA) 68-68-69, WANG Wei-lun (TPE) 68-67-70, Sattaya SUPUPRAMAI (THA) 67-66-72.
206 – Wongsakorn PIKUNSAWAT (THA) 67-70-69, Meechok PHANTHARAK (THA) 70-68-68, Khalin JOSHI (IND) 69-70-67, Danthai BOONMA (THA) 65-72-69, Atiruj WINAICHAROENCHAI (THA) 69-67-70, Prom MEESAWAT (THA) 71-65-70, Javi COLOMO (ESP) 69-70-67, Jake HIGGINBOTTOM (AUS) 72-67-67.
207 – Miguel CARBALLO (ARG) 66-72-69, Maverick ANTCLIFF (AUS) 71-66-70, Gareth PADDISON (NZL) 68-69-70, Steven JEFFRESS (AUS) 71-68-68, Berry HENSON (USA) 71-65-71, Johannes VEERMAN (USA) 71-69-67, Wolmer MURILLO (VEN) 67-67-73.
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