Chinese Taipeiâs Lin Chien-bing provided the home cheers when he carded a three-under-par 69 to take over the lead at the penultimate round of the Charming Yeangder ADT on Saturday.
Lin, who started the round with a five-shot deficit, fired four birdies against a lone bogey to claim a one-shot lead on nine-under-par 207Â total at the US$150,000 Asian Development Tour (ADT) event, which is the burgeoning Tourâs first stop in Chinese Taipei this season.
Overnight leader Greg Moss of the United States signed for a disappointing 75 to slip to second place with Australian Unho Park, who posted a second straight 70 at the scenic National Garden Golf and Country Club.
Local hero Lin Wen-tang returned with the dayâs lowest score of 67 to share fourth place on 210 with compatriots Hsieh Chi-hsien, Fang Yin Jen and Australian Jake Stirling, who registered matching 70s, at the Charming Yeangder ADT.
ADT Order of Merit leader Arie Irawan of Malaysia stayed five shots off the pace in tied-15th position following a 68 while Chinese Taipeiâs number one Chan Shih-chang posted a 73 to tie in 22nd place on 214.
Lin rode on his hot putter and good course knowledge for a creditable round.
âI thought the pin positions were quite tough today. I am pretty familiar with this golf course so I guess that was an advantage for me. I played rather aggressively. I try to attack the greens as I want to make sure that I put the ball in a good position which is very important,â said the 41-year-old Lin, who needed only 30 putts.
âThis tournament is organized by the Yeangder Group which is also my sponsor. I want to try my best to play well. I will keep things the same tomorrow and we will see how it goes,â added Lin.
Asian Tour regular Park hopes to take things in his stride as he heads into the final round in a favourable position on the leaderboard.
âMy game was pretty much the same as yesterday. I actually shot a better score on the first day where it rained and playing conditions were the toughest. Itâs weird but the week has been good so far. Hopefully I can stay consistent tomorrow,â added the 41-year-old Australian, who mixed his card with four birdies against two bogeys.
Despite falling off the lead, Moss held his head up as he readies himself for the final push.
âI thought it was pretty alright on the front nine. It was windy and the course was playing tough. I kept grinding out there. The wheels kind of came off a little bit on the back nine where I had a couple of bad swings coming down the stretch,â said Moss, who endured a round of 16 pars, one bogey and one double bogey.
âIâm actually surprised that I am not too far off the lead. I guess I have to work on my mental game a bit for tomorrow. Perhaps not being in the lead heading into the final round would shrug off some pressure when I step up to the tee tomorrow and hopefully allow me to play better,â added the 28-year-old American.
The winner of the Charming Yeangder ADT will take home a winnerâs prize purse of US$26,250 and receive six Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) points.
The ADT will reward the top-five finishers on the Order of Merit at the end of this season with Asian Tour cards for 2016.
With the Olympic Games looming in 2016 where golf will be reintroduced as a medal sport, players in the region could earn their spots in Rio de Janeiro by earning Official World Golf Ranking points through the Asian Tour and ADT.
For more information on the ADT, please visit www.
Â
Leading third round scores:
207 â LIN Chien-bing (TWN) 70-68-69
208 â Unho PARK (AUS) 68-70-70, Greg MOSS (USA) 62-71-75
210 â LIN Wen-tang (TWN) 72-71-67, Jake STIRLING (AUS) 73-67-70, HSIEH Chi-hsien (TWN) 70-70-70, FANG Yin Jen (TWN) 71-69-70
211 â Brett MUNSON (USA) 74-68-69, Jack MUNRO (AUS) 72-71-68, Fumihiro EBINE (JPN) 70-70-71, YANG Fei-hao (TWN) 68-71-72, Gavin FLINT (AUS) 69-69-73, LEE Chieh-po (TWN) 68-70-73, Jordan SHERRATT (AUS) 67-68-76
