| Three
tie for lead into last round Two
bogeys from Briton Stephen Dodd in the closing holes dropped him into a three-way
tie for the lead after the third round of the Hong Kong on Saturday. Dodd
was leading by two with three holes to play but dropped strokes at the 16th and
18th holes to finish on 12 under par with Sweden's Henrik Nystrom and Argentina's
Jorge Berendt in the co-sanctioned Asian and European Tour event. Six
players -- Britain's Gary Orr, Sweden's Fredrik Jacboson, Thailand's Boonchu Ruangkit,
Zimbabwe's Tony Johnstone and India's Arjun Singh -- were tied in fourth place
one stroke behind. The
Cardiff golfer, chasing his first victory in 12 years on the European Tour, started
the third round tied with six others on top of the board at nine under par. Dodd,
36, moved two strokes clear of the field with three birdies in four holes from
the 11th. He
bogeyed the par-four 16th, and was in the trees at the final hole but then fluffed
his intended chip shot back to the fairway. Dodd
managed to find the green with his fourth before rolling in his bogey putt to
remain in a share of the lead. "It
was a nice putt to hole for bogey on the last but a bit disappointing to finish
like that," said Dodd. "All
in all I played well and I'll just try to score as low as possible in the final
round. I played nicely for three days and hopefully it will continue tomorrow."
Nystrom, also
looking for a first European Tour win, birded the last two holes in a round of
a six-under-par 63. Berendt,
who won last year's Cannes Open title, produced a flawless third-round effort
signing for an outward half of 30 and an inward nine of three-under par 32. "I
just started to hit the ball well last Friday and if I can do the same again tomorrow
then I will feel confident," said Berendt. Victory
for 46-year-old Boonchu, would make the Thai the Asian Tour's oldest champion.
"It was
one of those days when the putts dropped and it was one of most best rounds of
the season," said Ruangkit. "I
just want to continue playing on the Asian Tour for a few more years and then
play the seniors tour in Japan and possibly the United States. "It
would be great to have another low round and finish among the leaders." Email
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