KOREA STAYS IN CONTENTION AT THE ISPS HANDA MELBOURNE WORLD CUP OF GOLF
Melbourne - Korea's Byeonghun An and Siwoo Kim remained in the hunt for their country’s first ISPS HANDA Melbourne World Cup of Golf title after battling to a four-under-par 68 in the penultimate round’s fourball match on Saturday.
An and Kim fired an eagle and four birdies against two bogeys to trail by five shots in second place alongside Abraham Ancer and Roberto Diaz of Mexico (65) and Italy’s (66) Andrea Pavan and Renato Paratore.
It was Belgium’s Thomas Pieters and Thomas Detry who pulled away from the chasing pack after signing for a commanding 63 and a three-day total of 19-under-par 197 at The Metropolitan Golf Club. They had held a share of the overnight two-shot lead with Korea.
Indian duo Anirban Lahiri and Gaganjeet Bhullar, who started the round in tied-third place, conceded they failed to produce their A-games after posting a two-under-par 70. They slipped nine shots off the pace to tie in 11th position at the prestigious US$7 million event.
Despite struggling to keep their momentum going, Malaysia’s Gavin Green and Ben Leong held their heads up as they signed for a 72 to settle for tied-15th place on 208.
The 56-man field from 28 countries, including six Asian nations, is vying to hoist the famous trophy in the event, won previously by many legends of the games.
The tournament will switch back to foursomes format for the all-important final round on Sunday.
