2007 Pakistan Open - Round 3: Airil fires 64 for three shot lead

Malaysia’s Airil Rizman Zahari is on course to a maiden title after a superb eight-under-par 64 for the third round lead at the Pakistan Open on Saturday.

Nailing nine birdies against a lone bogey, Airil equaled the course record set by defending champion Chris Rodgers last year. The Malaysian, with a 17-under-par 199 total, took a three stroke lead over Englishman Simon Hurd at the Karachi Golf Club. Hurd, who was ranked 48th on the Asian Tour’s UBS Order of Merit last year, dropped a spot to joint second place after a 69. Rookie Scott Hend of Australia fired his second straight 66 also in tied second place while Muhammad Shabbir was the highest ranked local player in lone fourth spot after a 67 six strokes behind the leader.

India’s Digvijay Singh enjoyed a steady bogey-free round with six birdies for a 66 as he was in tied fifth spot together with Filipino talent Tony Lascuna who blasted a 67. Rodgers shot his best round of 68 in joint seventh spot while India’s Rahil Gangjee was in a similar position after a 69 for a 207 total.

Thanks to his solid putting, Airil, with seven domestic titles under his belt, got off to a flying start when he holed a 30 foot birdie putt at the first hole. Birdies on the second, fourth, eighth and ninth holes put him in prime position for the top spot as he cruised home with four more birdies on the back nine. His only stumble of the day was at the 14th hole.

“I’m so happy. Everything worked out well today. Simon (Simon Hurd) and Scott (Scott Hend) were excellent playing partners. They are very friendly and that helped me relax on course. I really appreciated their support as it was definitely a contributing factor to my low score today as I did not feel pressured,” admitted Airil.

“This is the first time I am in this position on the Asian Tour. I hope to go out there and shoot another good round.

“I never imaged that I would come out on top when I teed off this morning. I wanted to shoot a low score and suddenly I saw my name on the leaderboard and realised that I had played a pretty solid game today,” he added.

Despite feeling under the weather, Hurd, who turned his attention to Asia last year, chalked up five birdies but dropped two shots as he aims to catch the runaway Malaysian on the final day.

“Airil played awesome. He knocked the putts in and did it very comfortably. If he plays like that tomorrow, I need a seriously low round,” said Hurd.

With six birdies against a lone bogey, Hend hopes for a steady outing as he heads into Sunday determined to deliver a better result.

“I wasn’t putting well in the middle stages of the game today. It’s not a bad position to be in but I wish to be closer than this,” said Hend, who celebrated the birth of twin babies Aston and McLaren last month.

“We got a long way to go tomorrow and we’ll see what happens but overall I’ve been quite pleased,” he added.

The Pakistan Open is the season-opening event on the Asian Tour which boasts a record of no lower than 29 events this year with a total prize fund of US$26 million.

Leading third round scores (for full leaderboard click here)

199 - Airil Rizman Zahari (MAS) 67-68-64

202 - Simon Hurd (ENG) 68-65-69, Scott Hend (AUS) 70-66-66

205 - Muhammad Shabbir (PAK) 66-72-67

206 - Digvijay Singh (IND) 71-69-66, Tony Lascuna (PHI) 70-69-67

207 - Chris Rodgers (ENG) 69-70-68, Rahil Gangjee (IND) 71-67-69

208 - Mitchell Brown (AUS) 70-71-67, Olle Nordberg (SWE) 72-66-70, Ashok Kumar (IND) 71-66-71

209 - Nam Young-woo (KOR) 72-70-67, Amandeep Johl (IND) 72-69-68, Shane Baxter (AUS) 70-68-71, Barry Hume (SCO) 68-68-73

210 - Scott Barr (AUS) 72-70-68, Gaganjeet Bhullar (IND) 69-72-69, Amardip Malik (IND) 69-71-70, Mark Mouland (WAL) 70-69-71, Yeh Chang-ting (TPE) 69-69-72

211 - S.S.P. Chowrasia (IND) 72-69-70

January 20, 2007