Tamsui, Chinese Taipei, 05-10-2019
Ajeetesh Sandhu's third round 70 places him in the joint lead at the Mercuries Taiwan Masters; Viraj Madappa rises to tied fourth with a 65
India's Ajeetesh Sandhu and Philippines' Miguel Tabuena will head into the final round of the Mercuries Taiwan Masters in pole position after posting a third round four-under-par 70 and 68 respectively on Saturday.
Both Sandhu and Tabuena had the opportunity to take the outright lead at the last hole, but they identically dropped a shot on the par-four 18 and had to settle for matching three-day total of nine-under-par 207.
Thailand's Suradit Yongcharoenchai returned with a 68 while India's Viraj Madappa signed for a 65 to share fourth place with Bangladeshi Siddikur Rahman, who posted a 68 at the Taiwan Golf and Country Club.
Sandhu, the overnight leader by one shot, meanwhile stumbled early with a bogey on the par-three second before steadying the ship with birdies on holes nine, 11, 13 and 15.ÂÂ
The Indian, who is searching for his second Asian Tour win this week, parred the 16th and 17th holes before another bogey on 18 denied him the outright lead.
Sandhu, who's second-place finish at the Bangabandhu Cup Golf Open in Bangladesh is his best result so far this season, said, "I'm tied for the lead so I'm really excited about that. But I'm not getting ahead of myself. I just want to keep on doing what I've been doing the last few days.Whenever you're in the lead or tied for the lead going into the last round, you know you're in for a good chance and you got to take advantage of that. Being in this position is what I've always aimed for.
"I think we got a bit unlucky with the wind today. The guys started off in the morning, had pretty much no wind to contend with, and we had some gusts coming in. But I think that's to be expected at Tamsui, so I think it's going to be more of the same tomorrow and you just have to be up for it."
Viraj Madappa, the youngest Indian to win on the Asian Tour at age 20 last year, also rose into contention on Saturday. The 21-year-old claimed his breakthrough win on home soil when he was still a rookie last August.
Madappa said, "I'm really happy with the way I played. Probably the most fun I've had on the golf course the whole year. I think there wasn't really a target when I started off. I just tried to have a good time and things just seemed to fall into place the first five or six holes. I made like five birdies in my first seven holes so I was playing well. And then the wind kind of picked up. So, it was playing a little difficult towards the end, but really happy with the way I played. On the last hole, I hit an errant tee shot and didn't put myself in a really good position for the third shot, so I mean, it's just a bogey. I mean, it's fine. Mistakes happen. And all in all, I'm happy with it.
"If you don't hit it straight it's a narrow course so you get penalized for missing fairways. And the greens are also not very large, so you got to be pretty accurate with your second shots as well. The greens are pretty difficult to read and difficult to judge the speed, so you have to get everything right to play well. I just try and have fun, do the same thing I did today. I got some things to work on, so probably go to the range and putting green and get ready for that. And just have a nice evening with the boys tonight."
Source: Asian Tour
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