Thai duo share lead at Singapore Open
Thai pair two ahead of chasing pack as weather continues to cause havoc at Lion City
>> SINGAPORE: Thai players Danthai Boonma and Chapchai Nirat led the weather-disrupted Singapore Open yesterday.
Only six players completed the third round, which was suspended due to bad weather.
A total of 62 players will resume their rounds at Sentosa Golf Club today at 7.40am local time.
Danthai finished 15 holes before play was suspended at 6.20pm local time. He fired six birdies against a lone bogey to bring his current total to nine under.
Chapchai, who started round three with a seven-under 135 total, brought his score down even further after totalling two under through nine holes.
Seven players were currently tied for third at seven under. The group includes Thailand’s Jazz Janewattananond, South Africa’s Shaun Norris and Japan’s Ryo Ishikawa.
Jazz was enjoying a bogey-free round before the sirens sounded. He fired four birdies through 17 holes.
Norris made a double bogey on the par-five fourth, but that was offset with three consecutive birdies on holes sixth, seventh and eighth.
“I played very well today, especially my putting. I’m just going to rest tonight to prepare for the long day. I must be focused and stick to my plan. I’ll just think about my swing, smile and have fun,” Danthai said.
Danthai also played in last year’s Singapore Open.
After a decent start, he was not able to shoot another round in the 60s and eventually finished tied for 23rd.
He enjoyed four top-10 finishes in 2017 — twice in Thailand (Thailand Open and Royal Cup), once in Taiwan (Taiwan Masters) and once in Indonesia (Indonesia Open).
Chapchai said: “I’m still adopting the same approach coming into round three. That is to use the tournament to experiment and adapt to my swing. I won’t be overthinking about the tournament, just going to enjoy the experience here.”
Jazz said: “I am quite satisfied with my round so far and I would say that almost everything went well. My driver’s pretty good. My approach shots are good, as I hit it close a lot. Playing with [compatriot] Poom [Saksansin] was quite inspiring as he was making very good putts today. I’m not distracted by the rain. I like it actually, as I get to rest more.”
“Bashful Prince” Ishikawa got off to a great start to his third round with two consecutive birdies on his opening two holes.
He bounced back with another birdie after a double bogey on the third. He dropped a shot at the seventh for a total of seven under through nine holes.
Masters champion Sergio Garcia was among seven players leading the chase at seven under on a heavily congested leaderboard.
Garcia, one of 78 players who returned to the course just after dawn to complete their second rounds, was on the 10th hole of his third round when the warning sirens were sounded to abruptly end play for the day.
“Let’s see if we can finish the round, that will be nice,’’ he said.
“But I think if I can play four under I should have a chance.’’
The Spaniard credited the Singapore Open as having played a part in toughening him up for his first major championship title at Augusta National last year because of the stifling humidity of Southeast Asia and the testing stop-start nature of the tournament.
Although he finished tied for 11th in Singapore, Garcia won the Dubai Desert Classic the subsequent week and was in peak form when he won the Masters two months later.
He is feeling confident of his chances of success this weekend.
“I felt like I hit the ball OK,” Garcia said. “My putting and all went great but my speed hasn’t been great on this green so let’s see if I can be a little more aggressive on the rounds tomorrow.”