The Korean Jeongwoo Ham (-13) is the clear leader of the Singapore Open with 18 holes to play. The victory is in his hands, although we know in this sport you cannot celebrate until the final putt. In any case, his advantage is wide. He has a four-shot lead over the Australian Cameron John (-9), five over the Japanese Tomohiro Ishizaka (-8) and six over the French Julien Sale (-7). For the three Spaniards who made the cut and are up the leaderboard, the ticket to the Open has become very difficult, but they still have options
Josele Ballester (-4), Pablo Ereño (-3) and Luis Masaveu (-3) have left themselves at least one last chance. That said, they need to treat Sunday as an 18-hole qualifier to be at Royal Birkdale. As you may recall, two places for the next Open Championship are being awarded this week in Singapore to the top two finishers. In theory it is for the best players not yet qualified, but in this case there are no calculations to make, as the three who were exempt for the Open and were playing this week at the Sentosa Golf Club missed the cut. Thus, the first and second tomorrow will go to Royal Birkdale
For the three Spaniards there are no other calculations to make than to shoot the best card of the day. That was Ballester’s aim on Saturday. The Castellón player had started his round wonderfully. Through the first 12 holes he was four under for the session, with five birdies and a solitary bogey. However, a double bogey at 14 completely halted his good run. In the end, a 69, which is not bad, although it leaves him plenty of work for tomorrow. He is five shots off the second spot. The victory is out of the picture. The best news for Josele is that, once again, he has shown he can go very low. The best round today on the Serapong Course was 67 and the Spaniard had it within reach
Ereño and Masaveu will also have a final opportunity, although they have left themselves, if anything, a bit more work than Ballester. They are six shots off second place. Pablo signed for a 71, level par for the day. He was solid from tee to green, but the putter did not fully cooperate. Meanwhile, Masaveu was very inconsistent. He missed up to six greens, although perhaps the main blot of the day was in the recoveries. He could only save one of those six occasions when he was not putting for birdie. He carded a 72
So, a Sunday with a lot at stake in Singapore: the win on the Asian Tour and the two places for the Open. The leader Jeongwoo Ham is 31 years old and has six career wins, four on the Korean circuit and two on the Japan Challenge Tour. In other words, he knows how to win. That said, he has never won a tournament of this magnitude and his last triumph was in 2024. We will see how he manages the juicy lead he has
The other story of the day could be that of Ahmed Baig (-6), a player from Pakistan who has a chance to qualify for the Open Championship. It will not be easy because he is three shots behind Cameron John, but at least he will have his opportunity. Baig is Pakistan’s best player at the moment, with three career wins, all on the Asian Development Tour, the second tier of the Asian Tour
