Thai golfer Chapchai Nirat continued to pound the course and the opposition as he maintained his record-breaking march adding a sizzling seven-under 65 to go to a sensational 27-under after three rounds in the SAIL Open here on Friday. He opened up an eight-stroke lead over second-placed Gaganjeet Bhullar (66), who last year was in contention at one stage at the SAIL Open before falling to tied fourth.
Two behind Bhullar was a threesome South African Keith Horne (64), Prom Meesawat (68) and Antonio Lascuna (67).
Unable to make use of the excellent scoring conditions were Mark Purser and Artjanawat, whose 72 each saw them fall from over second and third to sixth and tied seventh respectively. Purser was 16-under and Artjanawat was 15-under alongside Ross Bain (66) and Prom Meesawat (68).
From the Indian point of view, Ashok Kumar made a good move upwards with a five-under 67 that carried him to 14-under 202 and tied 10th. Shiv Kapur (69), tied 10th after second round slipped to 13th and S.S.P. Chowrasia (68), Gaurav Ghei (69) and Rahil Gangjee (71) were tied 20th at 11-under, where the group also included Mardan Mamat (73), who slid from tied fifth to 20th.
Chapchai is now in sight of Ernie’s Els winning total of 31-under on the par-73 in Kapalua, Hawaii while winning the Mercedes Benz Championships on US PGA in 2003 and Daniel Chopra’s winning total of 30-under at the Henrico County Championships in 2004. India’s Mukesh Kumar has shot a 30-under at the par-70 Qutub Golf Course on the Indian Tour in 2005. The Asian Tour record for the lowest winning total is 29-under set by Els at the 2003 Johnnie Walker Classic in Perth.
After two very eventful days, Chapchai seemed to be carrying on with birdies on the second and third. But then they dried up and time and again his putts stopped short. Seven straight pars followed by a bogey on 11th meant he was only one-under after 11. But a birdie on 12th pepped him and then he closed the round with five straight birdies from the 14th to the 18th for a 67. His total of 27-under includes a score of 11-under for the par-fives alone and he has missed out on a birdie on only one par-five, the ninth in the third round. It is the lowest ever three-round total on the Asian Tour.
Chapchai admitted, “I am extremely happy with my performance, though a little disappointed that I could not shoot another 62. The conditions were a shade tougher today because the pin positions were more difficult compared to the last two rounds and it was windy and overcast in the morning.”
He did admit that he had a bit of a struggle with the putter on the front nine. “My putting on the back nine was exemplary even though I struggled with the putter on the front nine.”
As for his gameplan for the final day, he declared, “I’ll stick to my strategy of aiming for birdies on the par fives tomorrow. I expect the pin positions to be tougher in round four. I’d love to break the world record of 32 under for four rounds. I’m really enjoying the game at this stage of my career and relish every challenge.”
As Chapchai was running away with the event, Bhullar seemed to be the only with an outside chance of narrowing the gap. The young Indian was four-under through 13 holes, with four birdies and no bogeys. With Chapchai two-under for the day at that stage, the gap between the two was down to five shots – Chapchai at 22-under and Bhullar 17-under. But Chapchai closed with five birdies and Bhullar managed only two more.
“This is a course for the taking. I have not been able to take full advantage of the par-fives,” admitted Bhullar after missing out on a birdie only once on the par-fives on first two days, Bhullar had just one birdie from the four par-fives in the third round.
Bhullar, who has been on a bogey-free streak for the last 43 holes –his last bogey came on the 11th on the first day – said, “I am a little disappointed to miss about three putts within 10 feet today. The conditions were a little tricky at the start of the round as I had to deal with headwind for the first three holes. But I attacked the pin all day and made 16 regulations for the third consecutive day. My driving has been spot-on since last week when I won on the PGTI.”
Bhullar, who has also been working with Hyderabad-based hypnotherapist Pradeep Aggarwal, added, “He (Pradeep) has been helping me with the mental aspect of my game for the last one month. He deals with the subconscious mind. His inputs have helped my game to a great extent. My mindset has changed and I now have another vision of golf.”
Leading scores at the end of the third round:
189 - Chapchai Nirat (THA) 62-62-65
197 - Gaganjeet Bhullar (IND) 67-64-66
199 - Keith Horne (RSA) 68-67-64, Richard Moir (AUS) 66-67-66, Antonio Lascuna (PHI) 65-67-67
200 - Mark Purser (NZL) 65-63-72
201 - Ross Bain (SCO) 67-68-66, Prom Meesawat (THA) 68-65-68,
Wisut Artjanawat (THA) 65-64-72
202 - John Parry (ENG) 68-68-66, Thammanoon Srirot (THA) 67-68-67
Ashok Kumar IND) 67-68-67
203 - Thaworn Wiratchant (THA) 69-69-65, Chris Gaunt (AUS) 70-66-67,
Sushi Ishigaki (JPN) 68-67-68, Shiv Kapur (IND) 68-66-69, Will Yanagisawa (USA) 68-66-69, Mars Pucay (PHI) 67-66-70
204 - Rory Hie (INA) 67-70-67
205 - Unho Park (AUS) 70-67-68, S.S.P. Chowrasia (IND) 66-71-68,
Gaurav Ghei (IND) 69-67-69, Rahil Gangjee (IND) 67-67-71, Jerome Delariarte (PHI) 71-69-65, Mardan Mamat (SIN) 65-67-73
206 - Amandeep Johl (IND) 68-69-69, Siddikur (BAN) 68-70-68, Christopher Campbell (AUS) 67-71-68, George Coetzee (RSA) 68-68-70,
Naman Dawar (IND) 67-69-70, Jeff Burns (USA) 70-68-68, Artemio Murakami (PHI) 67-68-71, Kiradech Aphibarnrat (THA) 72-68-66,
Kodai Ichihara (JPN) 70-70-66
Nirat extends his lead on Day Two
Chapchai Nirat shot a second straight 10-under 62 on Thursday to extend his lead after the second round of the SAIL Open. The 25-year-old Thai golfer has a 20-under total of 124, a new Asian Tour record at the halfway mark. Chapchai is four strokes ahead of Mark Purser of New Zealand, a tour rookie who shot a 63 on Thursday. Thailand's Wisut Artjanawat is another stroke back in third.
Chaichai also shared the tour's previous halfway record of 17 under with two other players.
Chapchai had 11 birdies and one bogey as he equalled the Classic Golf Resort's course record that he set Wednesday.
India's Gaganjeet Bhullar was in fourth place at 131, while pre-tournament favourites Thaworn Wiratchant of Thailand (138) and Jyoti Randhawa of India (140) were lagging back.
Bhullar (64) played flawless golf on a course where birdies were up for grabs. The Kapurthala lad made the turn at two-under before giving of his best on the way back.He began his back-nine journey with a birdie hat-trick and picked up a stroke each on the 14th and 18th holes as well to round off a satisfying day.
"All my putts were within 10 feet. I also did well with the lob wedge and sand wedge. My (first professional) victory (in a domestic event) last week has given me a lot of confidence. I'm hitting the ball well and I have this good feeling about my game," said the talented Indian.Everything else, however, paled in comparison to Nirat's sensational round and the Thai said he never imagined doing so well
"I didn't realise that it would turn out to be so impressive. My putting has been fantastic. I made one-putts on the first six holes and had 23 putts in total," he said."The course is very suitable to my game. I can reach all the par fives in two and the par four holes present birdie opportunities because the fairways are pretty open. But the greens were faster today which made it tricky," he added. In all, 24 Indians made cut, while 48 crashed out.
Source: SAIL Open press release
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