Australasians set the pace at Asian Tour Q-School

BY iseekgolf.com | Asian Tour | 2005 Asian Tour Q-School - Stage One | Round Three | 07 Jan 2005

At Tanjong Puteri’s Course B, Australian Richard Swift leads by four strokes after carding a 68 for a 204 aggregate. Malaysia’s Shaifubari Muda is tied second after returning his week’s best effort so far with a 67.

Australian Matt Keegan produced the day’s lowest of 67 at Palm Resort’s Cempaka Course to move into the lead with his three-day total of nine-under-par 207. He leads by two strokes from Japan’s Koji Katoh, who shot a 71 and England’s Steve Parry, who carded a 69. Malaysia’s M. Sasidaran gave himself a fighting chance of progressing into the Final Stage, moving up to tied 15th place with a battling 69.

Korea’s Oh Jun-seok carded a superb seven-under-par 65 to earn the third round’s honour at the Asian Tour Qualifying School, Stage One held across four venues today.

Oh leads by one stroke with his three-day total of 16-under-par 200, the lowest score amongst the qualifiers at Tanjong Puteri Golf and Country Club’s Course C. Kiwi Richard Lee and England’s Matthew Cort, a former European Tour regular, are a stroke adrift after rounds of 65 and 66 respectively.

At Pulai Springs, American Brian Nosler edged into the lead with a 66 in his third round. His three-day total of 207 is three strokes clear of Australian Paul Marantz and Gary Day of England.

Malaysia’s 17-year-old rookie pro Hanafiah Jamil returned a 73 to lie in tied 35th place, four shots adrift the qualifying mark. Former Australian national amateur golfer Luke Hickmott gave himself a shot of progressing into the Finals with a 71 which left him in tied 28th position.

The top-20 finishers from the four venues tomorrow will qualify for the all-important Final Stage starting next Wednesday. They will join 127 exempted players in the field and battle for 40 Asian Tour cards for the 2005 season.

Source – Asian Tour