UBS HONG KONG OPEN RELATED STORIES UBS Hong Kong Open Preview Round 1: Randhawa and Lara tied for lead Round 1: Singh protects Order of Merit position Round 2: Lara leads as Zhang fires 63 for third Round 2: Randhawa and Singh battle for OoM Round 3: Pagunsan leads Asian challenge to Lara Round 3: Pagunsan, Thongchai boost OoM chances Round 4: Lara wins maiden title at UBS HK Open Round 4: Singh wins Asian Tour Order of Merit Final Scores & Prize Money Monty intent on defending HK title Prom hoping to close in on Singh in Fanling Singh hopes to shine at Fanling despite injury Asians aim to end European monopoly at Fanling Jimenez aiming to reclaim HK crown Local hopefuls play for slots in HK Open Asian hopes high ahead of UBS Hong Kong Open More European stars confirmed for Fanling Goosen and Campbell on a high for Hong Kong Choi joins stars to shine at Fanling Monty & Major winners fired up for Fanling More about the Hong Kong Golf Club, Fanling ASIAN GOLF TODAY TOP STORIES Dyson into Open- Jeev misses out Singha ends Mo's title drought Chopra drops back at Buick Japan victory sends Prayad to Open Victory rejuvenates Thaworn Mission Hills to host AP Summit GOLF TODAY TOP STORIES Fisher coasts to seven shot win Kim claims the title with closing 65 Lee secures narrow victory Romero holds on to claim second senior title International players dominating the LPGA Drugs testing begins this week

Pagunsan and Thongchai boost Order of Merit chances

The race for the Asian Tour's UBS Order of Merit crown could take some interesting twists come Sunday.

Following the third round of the UBS Hong Kong Open, the penultimate event on this season's Asian Tour, Filipino rookie Juvic Pagunsan and two-time Asian TPagunsan and Thongchai boost Order of Merit chancesour number one Thongchai Jaidee of Thailand threw their names in the hat with rounds of 66 and 67 respectively.

A confident Pagunsan moved into second place and just two shots behind leader Jose Manuel Lara of Spain while Thongchai will enter Sunday's final round in fourth place, five off the lead.

Jeev Milkha Singh presently leads the merit race by over US$118,000 from second-ranked Prom Meesawat of Thailand and the Indian star is still very much in the title hunt here.

Singh, battling a nagging wrist injury, fired a 69 for tied sixth position while Prom is languishing in 55th place after a 73.

Thongchai, searching for his first victory of the year, launched into contention with a round that included four birdies and an eagle. Presently ranked eighth on the UBS Order of Merit, the former paratrooper needs to finish second or better to challenge Singh for the crown at the season-ending Volvo Masters of Asian in Bangkok next month.

If Pagunsan wins tomorrow, he will also go into the final event with also a shot at ending the year as number one.

Thongchai said he was concentrating only on winning this week. "My game is getting better especially my putting. I was struggling with my putting for the past six months. I tried using a new putting technique but it did not work so I went back to my old style," said the Thai.

Singh, winner of the Volvo China Open and the recent Volvo Masters in Spain, couldn't buy a putt at the famed Fanling layout. "I played good today, hit a lot of good shots but didn't putt as good as I had expected to," said Singh, who needed 31 strokes on the greens.

"I've been putting good all week. I stroked it well today but they just didn't fall. I'm happy to finish on one under and hopefully I can go out there and make some putts tomorrow."

The tenacious Indian is not writing off his chances despite Lara's bid for a first European Tour title in the co-sanctioned event. "You never know in this game. If I have a good start tomorrow, you never know. If I take it low, maybe there's a chance. I'm feeling good, swinging it well and rolling it good."

The right wrist injury is a worry though but Singh is gritting his teeth like a true champion. "I'm just worried about my physical being … my wrist is not so good. But I've got to keep going. There's pain especially when I try to hit a spin shot by digging into the ground, that's when it hurts. I'm trying to compensate out there.

"It's hard to not think about the Order of Merit. But I've not taken notice about the players who are in the running. I've not checked at all who has made the cut or are on the leaderboard and I do not like looking at stuff like that. I just want to go out there and just play."

November 18, 2006