Zimbabwean Benjamin Follett-Smith maintained pole position in the Asian Tour Qualifying School Final Stage following the third round at at Lake View Resort and Golf Club in Hua Hin, Thailand.
Playing on Course C&D, Follett-Smith carded a 67 to top the leaderboard on 13-under-par 200, one stroke ahead of South African Neil Schietekat. Japan’s Rikuya Hoshino sits a further two shots back in third.
Meanwhile, Australian veteran Scott Strange edged closer to his Asian Tour card after posting a third round 66 to move up into a share of fourth place. The 42-year-old, who won twice on the Asian Tour in the mid-2000s, fired five birdies on Course C&D to mark his best round yet in the grueling 90-hole qualifier .
The leading 35 players and ties following Sunday’s fifth and final round will earn their Asian Tour cards and be ranked accordingly for the 2020 season.
Sungyeol Kwon of Korea produced the shot of the day when he aced the par-three eighth hole on Course A&B with a seven-iron from 174 metres. He eventually signed for a 65 to lie T39 place on four-under-par.
Malaysia’s Amir Nazrin carded an even-par 71 on the C&D Course and is in T54 position on three-under-par, while compatriot Daeng Rahman lies T97 on even-par after an excellent 69 on the A&B layout.
From a starting field of 244, the gruelling five-round qualifier saw a cut to leading 140 players plus ties after two rounds. There will be another cut to leading 70 plus ties after four rounds.
Malaysia started with 10 players in the field but eight failed to make it past the 36-hole cut.
