Australia’s Scott Hend maintained his title charge after shooting a three under par 69 to take a one shot lead after the third round of the Zaykabar Myanmar Open presented by Air Bagan.
Hend, looking to end a three year title drought, will need to overcome the challenge from Thailand’s Kiradech Aphibarnrat, who shot a 69 at the Royal Mingalardon Golf and Country Club.
Defending champion Tetsuji Hiratsuka of Japan kept his hopes of retaining the title alive with a 67 to share third place with Australian Marcus Both (68), a two-time Asian Tour winner, and Ben Fox of the United States (69).
The big-hitting Hend, who last won on the Asian Tour in 2008, fired a flawless round with three birdies and is not perturbed by the challenges of the chasing pack.
“It doesn’t really worry me, I’m a good player myself, why should I worry about what’s behind me? I’ll just look at what’s in front,” said Hend, who lies on 16 under par.
He rued a cold putter but was delighted with his performance so far where he has shot only two bogeys in three days.
“It was a bit difficult because I didn’t hole any putts. That was an opportunity gone to put some people out of the tournament and I didn’t do that. It is going to be a good day tomorrow, should be a good shoot-out so let’s see what happens,” added the 39 year old.
Kiradech, known for his big-hitting style of play, birdied the last hole to stay within touching distance of the leader.
“I knew I needed to birdie the last hole. I didn’t want to be too far back. There’s a good chance for me now because I’m hitting the ball better,” he said.
Hiratsuka, who finished second on the Asian Tour Order of Merit last year, birdied all of the par fives in a round of seven birdies against two bogeys to give himself a chance of defending the title he won in 2010.
“Honestly, the game is not as good as the time when I won in 2010. I need to make more birdies on the shorter holes,” said Hiratsuka, who needed only 27 putts.
“I need to make a lot of birdies early in the round and put some pressure on the leader. That will be the goal. I have never successfully defended a title in my career before so I hope that this will be the first.”
