Teenager Hein Sithu of Myanmar put himself on the verge of securing his 2020 Asian Tour card after a fourth round two-under-par 69 that moved him into the top-five of the Asian Tour Qualifying School Final Stage in Hua Hin, Thailand .
The 19-year-old, who missed out on making the final round in his first attempt last year, fired four birdies to turn in 32 before closing with two dropped shots on the C&D course to lie in joint fifth place on 10-under-par at the Lake View Resort and Golf Club.
Sithu sits four shots back of Zimbabwean Benjamin Follet-Smith, who extended his overnight lead to two shots after making a late comeback with three birdies in his closing five holes to sign for a battling 70 on the A&B course.
Sweden’s Malcolm Kokocinski kept up his hopes of reclaiming his Asian Tour card after carding a second 66 on the A&B course this week to be in joint second place with countryman Bjorn Hellgren, who marked the lowest round of the day with a 64 on the same course.
Malaysia’s Amir Nazrin and Daeng Rahman failed to make it past the 72-hole cut to top 70 and ties which came at three-under-par. Amir shot a fourth round 75 to drop down the standings into T101 position on one-over-par, while Daeng shot 76 to finish his campaign in T126 spot on five-over-par.
From a starting field of 244, the five-round qualifier had two cuts with the first coming after two rounds to leading 140 players and ties. Malaysia started with 10 players in the field with eight missing the 36-hole cut.
