Mardan Mamat regains the lead at the King’s Cup
Singapore’s Mardan Mamat fired a six-under par 66 on Saturday, to regain the lead, entering the final round of the King’s Cup.
The US$500,000 tournament is the third-last event on the 2012 Asian Tour roster, and is being played at the Singha Park Khon Kaen Golf Club.
Mamat marked a sparkling start to his campaign in Thailand on day one, by posting a sparkling 63 on the leaderboard. On day two, he carded a two-under par 70 to compile a two-day total of 11-under par 133.
Entering the weekend, he was sharing the second spot on the leaderboard. The Singaporean got off to a decent start, as he carded two birdies against a lone bogey to reach the turn in one-under.
He then picked up pace and added shots on the 10th, 11th, 15th and the 16th hole to take the share of the lead with Thailand’s Thaworn Wiratchant, entering the final hole.
After adding another shot to his scorecard on the 18th hole, Mamat took the outright lead with a 17-under par overall score.
“I tried to be patient in my front-nine and then I started off well with two birdies in my back-nine. That gave me lots of confidence,” said Mardan.
Talking to the Asian Tour’s official website, he admitted that he will have to work really hard, in order to remain on the top, especially when Wiratchant is trailing him by just one shot.
“I saw Thaworn who was 15-under, going into the last hole and when I heard the roars from the galleries on the 18th, I knew he made a birdie there to go to 16-under,” said Mardan.
“It was a good round for him. It’s going to be tough to beat this old guy here. So if you can get a one-stroke advantage, you got to take it because he can shoot a low number anytime,” added Mardan.
Wiratchant has won a total of three Asian Tour events this season, and is in pole position to become the Order of Merit winner for the second time in his career.
He also holds the record for winning the most number of tournaments (15) on the Asian Tour.
Tags: