AR
Settee Prakongvech did enough hard work in the middle of his round to overcome a dry opening and closing stretch of holes and open a three-shot lead going into the final day of the US$500,000 am green IGPL Bharath Classic.
The 31-year-old from Bangkok, who is searching for his first title on the Asian Tour since turning pro in 2014, made three birdies in a row from the fifth hole onwards, and then added one more on the 12th for a four-under par 68 that elevated him to solo lead at 13-under.
Overnight joint leader Runchanapong Youprayong (71) slipped after a late double bogey to tied second place at 10-under alongside Sweden’s Charlie Lindh (67). Both players are also looking for their maiden win on the Asian Tour.
England’s Sam Broadhurst, son of Paul Broadhurst, winner of six DP World Tour titles in over 500 appearances, matched the lowest round of the day – a seven-under 65 – to climb to tied fourth place with Thailand’s Poom Saksansin (67) at nine-under.
The tournament is co-sanctioned with the Indian Golf Premier League (IGPL), with Karandeep Kochhar (70) leading the charge for its members in tied 10th place. Ayoub Lguirati added a 70 to remain the top Moroccan player, tied 16th at six-under par.
Settee made just one birdie in the four par-five holes and started his birdie run on the par-three fifth with what he called one of his best shots of the day. A strong headwind was blowing but he held a four-iron against it to four feet.
The Thai star felt the fact that he birdied only one of the four par-fives on the golf course was a missed opportunity to open an even larger lead at the top.
“I missed like a five-foot putt on the third and then again on the 18th. Both are par-five holes,” said the winner of the Blue Canyon Open on Asian Development Tour in 2022.
“Everything felt the same as yesterday. I hit my tee shots very well, and hit my approach shots good, but I missed some short putts. It’s okay…the game is still in good shape.”
On Swedish National Day, Lindh decided to celebrate early on the golf course. His plan for the round was to come out swinging and make a few birdies early, and he did just that with two in the first three holes.
Lindh, a three-time champion on the Nordic Golf League, dropped shots on the 10th and 12th holes, but seven birdies lifted him into contention.
“It was a really good start to the day. We said when we came out that we need to be ready from the first hole to make birdies. Because the wind was very calm compared to yesterday, and we were a couple under right from the start, so yeah, that was good,” said Lindh, who continued his good form from the Kolon Korea Open, where he had finished second.
“I still played good despite the dropped shots. I had a lot of chances coming in, it was just that the putts dropped on the front nine, but got a couple back on the last few holes.”
Runchanapong started with a bogey, but three birdies pulled him back to -2 for the round and in touch with Settee. However, a double on the par-5 14th ruined his card for the day.
“It was pretty slow, got off to a bogey start, but managed to make a birdie on hole three. I felt like today I didn’t hole a lot of putts and made some poor shots, I think I’m in a pretty good spot for tomorrow’s final round,” said the 26-year-old.
“I’m just going to keep playing the way I played for the past couple of weeks, and hopefully, some putts will drop tomorrow. Just trying to stay in the present.”
On his 65, Broadhurst said: “I played solid, hit the ball well off tee to green, and holed a couple of putts, which didn’t happen yesterday, so that was the main difference.
“They pushed a couple of the par-three tees up, which made it a lot easier, and the wind was a lot calmer compared to the last couple of days.”
American Charles Porter (65) matched the lowest round of the day and moved to tied sixth place at eight-under alongside compatriot MJ Maguire (69), England’s Steve Lewton (68) and South Africa’s Ian Snyman (69), who is looking for his second win on the Tour in his last three starts.
The tournament, which forms part of the Asian Tour’s three-week visit to Morocco, is co-sanctioned by IGPL. After back-to-back tournaments at Mazagan Beach & Golf Resort, built on the Atlantic coast of Morocco, the Asian Tour will move to Rabat next week for the US$2 million International Series Morocco presented by Visit Morocco.
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Main Image: IGPL / Asian Tour
