Melbourne: Rising Thai star Kiradech Aphibarnrat remained on the fringe of contention after a frustrating one-under-par 70 left him seven shots behind third round leader Jason Day of Australia at the US$8 million ISPS HANDA World Cup of Golf on Saturday.
The 24-year-old Kiradech, who is currently leading the Asian Tour’s Order of Merit, rued a cold putter as he took 34 strokes on the tricky putting surfaces at Royal Melbourne Golf Club for a three-day total of two-under-par 211 in tied eighth place in the individual category.
Day fired a masterful 66 to take a one-shot lead on 204 from overnight pacesetter Thomas Bjorn of Denmark, who signed for a 71. American Matt Kuchar, runner-up at the Australian Masters here last weekend, moved into contention with a solid 68, three back of the new leader.
Day and countryman Adam Scott, who is tied eighth, hold the lead in the team category with a combined score of 415, one ahead of Kuchar and Kevin Streelman of the United States. Japan’s Ryo Ishikawa and Hideto Tanihara are third on 422.
Like Kiradech, Korea’s K.J. Choi was stumped by the treacherous greens at Royal Melbourne as he lipped out five putts en route to a 71, good for tied 12th position.
Kiradech was disappointed he did not end the day closer to the new leader. “I couldn’t sink any putts, made 34 putts out there. My three birdies were from two feet,” said the burly Thai, who is making his second appearance in the World Cup.
“Quite happy with how I played. It was a big difference. Yesterday, I didn’t strike it good but sank a lot of putts. Today, I only missed one green in regulation but couldn’t putt in any.”
He intends to go on attack mode in the final round in his chase for a slice of the US$7 million prize money on offer for the individual category. “On this course, anything can happen. I’ll need a big move in the opening few holes to have a chance. The course is a bit easier today due to the rain as the greens were softer and slower. I left a lot of putts short out there,” he said.
“The lead seems quite big. But if the wind picks up, anything can still happen. I think you’ll need five birdies on the front nine to have a good chance to catch on the back nine.”
Choi, whose best finish in the World Cup was a third place outing with Hur Suk-ho in the team competition in 2002, said Lady Luck deserted him when playing conditions were made easier due to an early morning shower.
“Today, I lipped out five times, four for birdies and one for par. Golf, some days, you can make everything but some days you will lip out. Today, I had to be patient. I played well. I missed one shot on 16 for bogey but everything was so good. Hope to have more chances tomorrow,” said the Asian Tour honorary member who is an eight-time winner on the PGA Tour.
“The winds were still blowing which made it difficult to control the ball. I had confidence but needed to putt the ball in the hole. I had chances from 20 feet and 10 feet and it could have easily been three or four under par. One more chance tomorrow.
“Very unusual that the ball didn’t want to drop in. On two, it should have dropped but I didn’t have the luck. Tomorrow, I’ll be hunting for a score. I’ll try to be more aggressive especially when it’s the final round,” added the man nicknamed “The Tank”.