Thai golfers leading the Indonesia Open after third round on OneAsia Tour
Indonesian blazing gun, Thaworn Wiratchant is now leading the Indonesia Open, presented by Enjoy Jakarta, and considering the three-shot lead he has over the rest of the field, Wiratchant will be edging towards another stellar victory in his career.
The grizzled veteran of the OneAsia Tour has won the 2005 episode of the event and is aiming to utilize his experience to tame the Pantai Indah Kapuk Course.
“It was a great result but it was hard work at times because I had some trouble with my driver. I was hitting it fine on the driving range but on the front nine I started hooking it. I didn’t know what to do so I corrected it by working on a slight
cut for the rest of the round. I am mentally exhausted,” said Thaworn.
Wiratchant opened up his front nine and remained subdued until he pulled in some blistering iron play to card three birdies and a stunning eagle at par-five, 6th. He pulled in two more birdies at the back nine and dropped just one shot to
finish off with six-under. He is now 14-under on the aggregate, leading the nearest contender Chawalit Plaphol by three shots.
Plaphol, another trailblazing Thai who has performed brilliantly on the tour, carded the lowest round of the day, pulling in seven birdies in his bogey-free round. The 36-year-old golfer had been facing a dearth of victories on tour until he won the
Queen’s Cup in Thailand last month. He had not won a tournament since 2006 when he won the Bangkok Airways Open.
“I knew I could shoot a low round on this course. I made some mistakes on the first two days but today I had no problems. I have a very good chance tomorrow,” said Chawalit, who finished tied for second spot alongside Australian Michael Hendry.
Hendry is also the defending champion of the $1-million title and poses a serious threat to the rampaging Thais at the top. The 31-year-old won the title last year with a whopping seven-shot lead. Hendry opened up his round dropping three shots in
the front nine but quickly bounced back in the back nine, carding three straight birdies in the closing holes.
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