Jakarta, January 10 - Thailand’s Pavit Tangkamolprasert charged into the lead with overnight leader George Gandranata after posting a third round one-under-par 70 at the inaugural Linc Group Jakarta Invitational on Friday.
Pavit compiled a three-day total of eight-under-par 205 to tie with Gandranata, who returned with a 71, at the US$60,000 event, which is the season finale for the 2013 Asian Development Tour (ADT) schedule.
The leading duo hold a three-shot lead over ADT winners Mitsuhiko Hashizume of Japan and England’s Grant Jackson, who shared third place after signing for rounds of 67 and 70 respectively at the Jababeka Golf and Country Club.
Ranked fifth on the ADT Order of Merit, Jackson will need to win this week to break inside the top-four on the final Merit list to earn a 2014 Asian Tour card. He is a mere US$9,000 from third placed Iain Steel and US$8,000 from fourth placed Lindsay Renolds of Canada on the Order of Merit.
With Steel and Renolds currently placed tied-35th and tied-25th respectively at the Linc Group Jakarta Invitational, Jackson have a strong opportunity to overtake them on the Merit ranking if he wins this week.
James Bowen of the United States, ranked second on the Order of Merit, has virtually sealed his Asian Tour card for next season as he sits in tied-eight place after three days.
Indonesia's top-ranked player Rory Hie (71) lost a place and is currently in 7th place, while William Sjaichudin (71) gained 2 places to tenth. Best amateur remains Jordan Irawan (74), though he had to concede 4 places and dropped out of the top ten to a tie of 13th.
Pavit, who marked his card with four birdies against three bogeys, was red hot off the tees as he battled his way into contention.
“My driving was good but I didn’t perform well with my irons. I’m very excited about tomorrow. I will definitely try my best and we will see how it goes,” said the 24-year-old Thai.
Gandranata, who held the lead since the first round, continued to stay in prime position of winning his very first ADT title despite making his first bogey of the week on par-four 10th hole.
“I made a lot of good putts for par. I guess that’s what kept me going today. Ball striking was not my best and the pin positions were tough as well. Hopefully my ball striking will be good tomorrow. I’m just going to play one shot at a time and not think too much about winning. I look forward to playing with Pavit again tomorrow. He is a good player,” said the 27-year-old.
Meanwhile Jackson will go all out to try and win the event as he trails the leaders by three shots. “I’m feeling good with how I’ve played so far. I try not to worry about how the others are doing. I just want to concentrate on my own game. I think that will be good enough,” said the Englishman, who had signed for the day’s lowest score.
Currently third on the Order of Merit, Steel knows a good finish this week will boost his rankings and put him a step closer to earning an Asian Tour card for 2014.
“My game is getting a bit rusty actually as I’ve not played for almost three weeks but I didn’t expect myself to finish so close to the cut-off line yesterday. My back pain was acting up as well. I kind of worked on my mental game a bit and I’m glad I played better today. I was more patient,” said Steel, who claimed two consecutive wins on the ADT in 2013.
“Regaining my Asian Tour card for 2014 has obviously been the topic this week but I just want to focus on my own game right now and not think about others. Hopefully I can finish well tomorrow to maintain my ranking on the merit list,” added the 42-year-old Malaysian.
With current number one Nicholas Fung of Malaysia having already secured his Asian Tour card through the Asian Tour’s Order of Merit, the next best three players on the ADT rankings will be ‘promoted’ after this week’s final tournament.
The winner of the Linc Group Jakarta Invitational will take home a prize purse of US$10,500 and receive six Official World Golf Ranking points. The top six players and ties will also earn points based on a sliding scale.
Leading third round scores:
205 - Pavit TANGKAMOLPRASERT (THA) 69 66 70, George GANDRANATA (INA) 66 68 71
208 - Grant JACKSON (ENG) 69 72 67, Mitsuhiko HASHIZUME (JPN) 68 70 70
209 - CHAN Shih-chang (TPE) 71 68 70, Jack MUNRO (AUS) 68 70 71
212 - Rory HIE (INA) 70 71 71
213 - Anthony KANG (USA) 73 71 69, James BOWEN (USA) 75 68 70
215 - William SJAICHUDIN (INA) 75 69 71
Selected:
216 - Maan NASIM (INA) 71 71 74
217 - Benny KASIADI (INA) 75 71 71, Jordan IRAWAN (A) (INA) 72 71 74
218 - Jamel ONDO (INA) 76 71 71, Junaidi IBRAHIM (INA) 72 74 72
219 - Ilyasyak (INA) 70 75 74, Ian ANDREW (INA) 72 73 74, Denny A. WIJAYA (INA) 73 71 75
220 - Nicholas SMITS (A) (NED) 78 70 72
221 - Andik MAULUDIN (INA) 70 80 71
223 - Ramadhan ALWIE (INA) 75 74 74
224 - Hardjito (INA) 74 73 77, Ade SEBUL (INA) 73 74 77, Kurnia Herisiandy SANTOSO (INA) 76 76 72
225 - Danny MASRIN (A) (USA) 74 74 77, S SANUSI (INA) 77 72 76, Asep CAPRIE (INA) 78 74 73, Asep SAEFULLOH (INA) 77 76 72
226 - Kevin C. AKBAR (A) (INA) 77 77 72
229 - Bramantio ADI (INA) 73 75 81, Rinaldi ADIYANDONO (INA) 78 74 77
230 - SIM Min Sub (A) (INA) 72 80 78
232 - Sarmilih (INA) 77 76 79
234 - Joeh SEIK (A) (INA) 75 79 80
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