Petersen holds slim advantage, Danthai falls by 2

Peterson, who won his first Asian Tour title in January, fired three birdies on his homeward nine to hold on to his lead for the third straight day on 17-under-par 199 at the Damai Golf and Country Club.

" It did take me a while to get hot. The group seems to survive the first few holes. Nobody really did much and John (Catlin) made a couple of putts. I didn’t really feel that the pin positions suited my game with the wind direction. There were a lot of left pins with left to right wind and I tend to draw the ball. I tried to stay as patient as I could and hit the ball to the middle of the green and not try to get greedy. I knew that after the turn I will have more opportunities to score. I expected the front nine to be a bit slower unless I made a putt," said Peterson, looking for second Tour win after claiming his maiden in Myanmar in January.

Catlin kept up his chase for a second Asian Tour title following a 68 while Thailand’s Danthai Boonma (68), who will play in The Open in a fortnight, and Spaniard Javi Colomo (68) are a further shot back in third place.

"I played really good. Everything seems good for me now. My approach shots to the green are really good and I’m giving myself a lot of birdie chances. I don’t want to think about the win yet. I want to stay focus on my game," said Danthai, in search for a tour title after winning the World Classic Championship in Singapore three years ago.

India’s Gaganjeet Bhullar also charged into contention with a sparkling 66 to share fifth place with Thailand’s Peradol Panyathanasedh (67) on a 202 total at the US$300,000 Asian Tour event.

Southpaw player Peterson started with nine straight pars before birdies on holes 10, 13 and 16 earned him a slight edge heading into the final 18 holes. The American continued his fine form after dropping only one shot in 54 holes.

The 27-year-old Catlin has unfinished business this week after finishing second on this course on the Asian Development Tour (ADT) last year. The American sank a clutch birdie putt from 18 feet on the 17th hole to stay within striking distance.

Thailand’s Boonma birdied the last two holes to put himself in prime position to end a three-year title drought on the Asian Tour. This will be his final event before he heads to Carnoustie for his Major debut at The Open.  

Scores after round 3 of the Sarawak Championship being played at the par 72, 6970 Yards Damai GC course (am - denotes amateur):

199 - Paul PETERSON (USA) 63-67-69.

200 - John CATLIN (USA) 67-65-68.

201 - Danthai BOONMA (THA) 67-66-68, Javi COLOMO (ESP) 66-67-68.

202 - Gaganjeet BHULLAR (IND) 68-68-66, Peradol PANYATHANASEDH (THA) 66-69-67.

203 - Mark BROWN (NZL) 65-71-67, Jazz JANEWATTANANOND (THA) 66-66-71, Kevin LEE (KOR) 67-65-71.

204 - Natipong SRITHONG (THA) 68-67-69.

205 - Maverick ANTCLIFF (AUS) 69-69-67, Matt STIEGER (AUS) 71-67-67, Johannes VEERMAN (USA) 67-70-68, James MARCHESANI (AUS) 69-68-68, Himmat RAI (IND) 68-67-70."

206 - Pavit TANGKAMOLPRASERT (THA) 69-69-68, Ajeetesh SANDHU (IND) 68-71-67, Scott VINCENT (ZIM) 67-69-70.

207 - Mitchell SLORACH (SIN) 66-73-68, Poom SAKSANSIN (THA) 70-69-68, Settee PRAKONGVECH (THA) 69-69-69, Gareth PADDISON (NZL) 68-70-69, Itthipat BURANATANYARAT (THA) 72-67-68, Sihwan KIM (USA) 67-70-70, Chikkarangappa S. (IND) 70-67-70, Shohei HASEGAWA (JPN) 71-66-70.