Perez opens up four-stroke lead at CIMB Classic
KUALA LUMPUR: American Pat Perez shot a sizzling 64 in the third round yesterday to take a four-shot lead into the final day of the USD7 million (about RM29.50 million) 2017 CIMB Classic Golf Championship held at TPC Kuala Lumpur, Bukit Kiara, here.
The 41-year-old American fired nine birdies against a lone bogey to take him to an eight-under par 64 yesterday and a three-day total of 195.
"I didn't really hit it that great but I putted good again. You know, I'm just kind of getting the most out of my game right now. It's the same greens I won on in Mexico, so I really can see the line and I can see the ball in the wind here.
"It's helped me, especially this. I can't really explain, I've hit some good shots, I've hit some good putts, but things are just clicking right now," Perez told reporters after completing his round yesterday.
Perez, who enjoyed his best PGA Tour season by finishing 11th in the recent 2016-17 FedEx Cup standings, noted that his initial goal in yesterday's round was to get a 20under score.
"I wanted to get to 20 today, that was my goal, and then I know I needed -- my goal for the end is like 26 so I needed 13. I knew I had to do that again...I'm not really worried about the board, I'm worried about the end number. So if I can get another six tomorrow, I might be tough to catch," said Perez on his game plan for today's final round.
His 54-hole total of 21-under-par 195 is the lowest 54-hole score in tournament history, bettering the mark of 20-under 196, set by Justin Thomas and Brendan Steele in 2015.
Perez's best finish in the CIMB Classic was in 2011 when he tied for ninth place.
Meanwhile, 23-year-old Xander Schauffele maintained his second place, trailing Perez by four shots.
Despite starting his round with a bogey on the first hole, he recovered with three birdies to get back into his momentum after producing an eagle and added another two birdies, in order to keep the pace behind the leader.
"You would much rather have the group chasing forward up the leaderboard than kind of stagnant. So it's all good. You know, watching both those guys make putts is always a good thing visually for me," he said.
South Korea's Kang Sung-hoon stayed in contention for the title after coming in with a seven-under-par 65 for a three-day total of 200.
"I played pretty good today and Pat really made a lot of putts today. So, I mean, I had some chances but I didn't putt as well as I would have wanted. Hopefully tomorrow I can putt a little bit better than today and have a good start.
“There's a lot of birdie opportunities so I look forward to it. If he shoots 4 under it will be same score, so who knows. I'll try my best tomorrow," said Kang, who is aiming to become the first Asian to win the CIMB Classic.
He trails Perez by five shots after trading seven birdies and one eagle against two bogeys, where he birdied the last two holes to stay in the title hunt.
Meanwhile, Kang's compatriot, Kim Meen-whee, the golf gold medallist at the 2010 Asian Games, stole the limelight yesterday when he sank a hole-in-one at the par-three 15th hole which earned him a brand new BMW 740Le xDrive Hybrid car.
"That was like the perfect yardage, 207 and the cover on the front edge was like 191, so I just hit smooth 5iron and landed perfect and thought, oh, made it, it's going to go in," said the delighted Kim, who shot a 71, yesterday. - Bernama