Leader Prom primed for matchplay
TOP CONTENDERS TUMBLE OUT OF SUPER 6 PERTH
>> PERTH: Prom Meesawat of Thailand managed the course conditions superbly to fire a third round 67 and grab the No.1 seed at the World Super 6 Perth yesterday.
Prom carded seven birdies against two bogeys to return with a 12-under-par 204 total at Lake Karrinyup Country Club.
He finished two shots ahead of the rest of the field. The burly Thai golfer, along with seven others in the top eight, will go into the second round of the knockout matchplay today.
Sean Crocker of the United States carded a 67, while Lucas Herbert of Australia and Thorbjorn Olesen carded matching 69s to finish in tied-second.
The leading 24 players after three rounds will qualify for the six-hole knockout matchplay.
Other Asian Tour members who progressed to the knockout matchplay include Thais Pavit Tangkamolprasert (69), Poom Saksansin (67) and Kiradech Aphibarnrat (72) as well as Chang Yi-Keun (71) from South Korea.
Poom, Kiradech and Chang qualified for today via a play-off where nine players, who all finished in tied-17th, vied for eight spots. Australia’s Anthony Quayle was eliminated after a titanic battle with Kiradech that stretched to four playoff holes.
Defending champion Brett Rumford and England’s Lee Westwood failed to secure spots in the knockout matchplay after carding matching 78s.
Prom moved into a position to notch his first European Tour win, which would secure his card on that tour. His best previous result on the European Tour was a play-off loss to Miguel Angel Jimenez and Stuart Manley in Hong Kong in 2013.
Although he said he believed his last experience of matchplay was at least a decade ago, the 33-year-old was excited by the opportunity to participate in the final day.
“I’m very happy with my round. I finished first, but you’ll never know what will happen tomorrow as it is going to be matchplay,” Prom said.
“So, I’m going to try my best. I’ve been playing well over the last three days. I hope that I can bring my good form tomorrow. It’s going to be good fun.”
Former world No.1 Westwood struggled all day with wayward driving and heaved his club in frustration after teeing off into the bush on the 14th.
He scrambled out of that with a par, only to double bogey the next hole to drop to two under and slip out of contention.
“Not a lot went my way,” Westwood said. “I hit a few bad shots, got a few bad breaks, never made any putts. I made one birdie on the 17th, so you’re not going to score well doing that.”
Rumford looked well placed to reach the final 24 until a disastrous double bogey on the 16th killed off his chances.
“It was a tough day, a long day,” Rumford said. “I felt like I hit it all right, but my short game wasn’t at its usual level and it was just a flat round.”