South African Dylan Frittelli and Spaniard Jorge Campillo will take a one-shot advantage into the final round of the Maybank Championship with a tight leaderboard putting no less than 16 players within three shots of the lead.
Frittelli and Campillo carded matching 66s to set the pace on 15-under-par, one shot ahead of resurgent American Berry Henson and India’s Khalin Joshi.
“I started off a bit slow but made some good birdies during the middle part of the round and that kept me going. It is super bunched … a lot of Japanese guys up there, a few other Spanish guys, Jorge played great today with me. I’m excited to mix it up,” said Frittelli, who won twice in 2017 at the Lyoness Open and AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open.
Campillo eagled the first hole and is well-placed for his first European Tour win. “I’m really looking forward to tomorrow. It is a nice position to be and I’m excited,” he said,
Halfway joint leader Phachara Khongwatmai of Thailand is two shots off the pace on 13-under-par with five other players including Japanese stars Hideto Tanihara and Ryo Ishikawa. Ishikawa carded the day’s low round of nine-under-par 63.
New Zealand’s Ryan Fox made the first albatross in championship history by holing out from 216 yards with a six-iron at the par-five first hole. He carded a 68 and is in T11 place on 11-under-par.
Gavin Green (Photo by Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images)
Malaysia’s Gavin Green meanwhile signed in a solid 69 to lie in 26th place on 10-under-par.
“I’m still within striking distance. Everybody is bunched up so if I can go out and shoot as many birdies as possible, I will have a good chance. If I can get off to a good start, then I think we will be right in the mix,” said the big-hitting Green, who topped the 2017 Asian Tour Order of Merit.
The only other Malaysian to make the 54-hole cut was Amir Nazrin who is in T63 place on four-under-par. Compatriots Ben Leong and Nicholas Fung failed to make it to the final 18.
LEADING ROUND 3 SCORES:
201 (-15) – Jorge CAMPILLO (ESP) 69-66-66, Dylan FRITTELLI (RSA) 69-66-66
202 (-14) – Berry HENSON (USA) 69-68-65, Khalin JOSHI (IND) 67-70-65
203 (-13) – Prayad MARKSAENG (THA) 71-65-67, Hideto TANIHARA (JPN) 71-64-68, Ryo ISHIKAWA (JPN) 74-66-63, Marc WARREN (SCO) 68-66-69, Nino BERTASIO (ITA) 68-65-70, Phachara KHONGWATMAI (THA) 68-65-70
