Australian Scott Hend will take a two shot lead into the final round of the True Thailand Classic presented by Chang after a two under par 70 on a windy third day at Black Mountain Golf Club.
The 43 year old, who was a runner-up here last year, chipped in for a birdie three on the 15th and picked up another shot on the 17th to reach 14 under overall, edging ahead of American Peter Uihlein, who signed for a 69.
Uihlein has been battling a wrist injury, but is a man in form after top ten finishes in his last two appearances, and showed impressive composure to notch four birdies against one bogey as, like Hend, he seeks his second European Tour title.
Belgian Thomas Pieters had the best round of the day, a six under par 66, to move up to 11 under and a share of third place, alongside Sweden’s Pelle Edberg, who endured a rollercoaster back nine to post a 73.
Quotes
Scott Hend
“It was a good grind. I felt like two out of ten today and felt really tired, no energy. I knew it was going to be a tough day and very windy, so I’m very pleased. It’s just another round of golf for me tomorrow. It’s a long season. We practise for a result, we practise to try to win, we try to get ourselves in this position to have a win. If you’re not in this position, you get upset with yourself. When you’re actually here, you’ve got to try to enjoy it and embrace it. It’s not very often you get a chance to lead a tournament on a Saturday night, let alone on a Sunday.”
Peter Uihlein
“It was tough out there but fun and I was pleased with how the day went and how I handled it mentally. I holed some nice putts. I know Thomas shot six under but apart from that there were not a lot of guys going low so it was a good day. At the start of every week you are trying to be in there with a chance to win on Sunday. I feel like each time I am in this potion that I get more comfortable and ore confident and able to play better.”
Thomas Pieters
“I haven’t done much wrong the past two days. I’ve rolled in some short putts for birdie and par but I haven’t holed any longs ones. Overall I’m quite happy. It was a shame I had a poor finish today. I’m having a hard time chipping out of this grass – it’s very different from back home. But it’s nice to have a chance tomorrow. I only got here late Tuesday night because I was very sick last week. I had a bad sinus infection and a fever. I’m still on antibiotics, but I’m feeling better day by day. You just have to be very careful in this heat.”
Pelle Edberg
“I had a rough back nine, so I’m quite pleased with the finish. Compared to the other two days, I thought I hit the ball pretty well except for two or three holes. A few mistakes there and all of the sudden you’re making bogeys. Hopefully I can keep the feeling going tomorrow. If I can shoot five or six under, I think I might have a good chance.
Rnd 3 scores:
202 S Hend (Aus) 68 64 70,
204 P Uihlein (USA) 64 71 69,
205 T Pieters (Bel) 73 66 66, P Edberg (Swe) 65 67 73,
206 B Hebert (Fra) 72 64 70, D Lipsky (USA) 67 68 71, S Norris (RSA) 67 68 71,
207 P Meesawat (Tha) 68 70 69, P Pittayarat (Tha) 68 65 74, S Yates (Sco) 67 68 72,
208 J Luiten (Ned) 70 68 70, P Swangarunporn (Tha) 68 68 72, T Jaidee (Tha) 69 69 70, R Karlberg (Swe) 69 71 68, M Warren (Sco) 68 68 72,
209 R Dinwiddie (Eng) 67 71 71, T Khrongpha (Tha) 70 70 69, N Colsaerts (Bel) 73 66 70, J Lagergren (Swe) 68 71 70, R Khan (Ind) 70 66 73, G Havret (Fra) 69 70 70,
210 R Davies (Wal) 67 68 75, J Carlsson (Swe) 74 67 69, K Richardson (Aus) 70 70 70, J Singh (Ind) 73 68 69, L Bjerregaard (Den) 71 70 69, G Charoenkul (Tha) 72 69 69,
211 J Colomo (Esp) 66 70 75, G Bhullar (Ind) 73 68 70, P Peterson (USA) 70 70 71, C Pigem (Esp) 69 68 74, J Campillo (Esp) 68 71 72, J Wang (Kor) 69 71 71,
212 B Virto Astudillo (Esp) 71 71 70, M Carlsson (Swe) 75 67 70, S Brazel (Aus) 71 71 70, C Kumar (Ind) 68 68 76, N Elvira (Esp) 73 68 71, G Boyd (Eng) 67 72 73, A Que (Phi) 68 73 71, C Phadungsil (Tha) 70 72 70, S Jamieson (Sco) 66 76 70, M Tabuena (Phi) 72 68 72, J Edfors (Swe) 69 71 72, H Rai (Ind) 68 72 72,
213 J Scrivener (Aus) 72 67 74, J Pagunsan (Phi) 71 69 73, L Slattery (Eng) 69 71 73, A Cañizares (Esp) 71 69 73, P Marksaeng (Tha) 67 73 73, L Wen-Tang (Tpe) 69 72 72,
214 H Fujita (Jpn) 70 71 73, A Sriboonkaew (Tha) 69 72 73, C Nirat (Tha) 70 68 76, H Chi-Hsien (Tpe) 67 71 76, P Larrazábal (Esp) 72 68 74,
215 B Munson (USA) 70 70 75, A Atwal (Ind) 69 72 74, M Madsen (Den) 72 68 75, Y Song (Kor) 72 69 74,
216 U Duangdecha (Tha) 71 70 75, N Fung (Mas) 70 70 76, A Kang (USA) 68 71 77, C O’Toole (USA) 70 72 74, M Korhonen (Fin) 70 69 77,
217 A Levy (Fra) 70 71 76, S Kaopratum (Tha) 70 68 79, M Kieffer (Ger) 69 73 75,
218 G Stal (Fra) 70 72 76, W Ormsby (Aus) 70 70 78, S Katayama (Jpn) 72 70 76,
219 H Chien-Yao (Tpe) 70 72 77,
