>>Incheon: Thailand's Thitiphun Chuayprakong conjured another magical performance with a flawless five-under-par 66 to stand on the verge of another Asian Tour victory after the third round of the Shinhan Donghae Open yesterday.
Thitiphun heads into the final round of the US$1 million event holding a two-shot advantage over Korea's Kim Tae-Woo after he compiled a three-day total of 16-under-par 197 at the Bears Best Cheongna Golf Club.
Asian Tour rookie Scott Vincent of Zimbabwe continued his sensational run with a 68 to take outright third place, while India's Gaganjeet Bhullar was tied for fourth with Korea's An Byeong-Hun and South Africa's Jbe Kruger on 202 total.
Playing alongside An, who is the highest ranked player in the field this week, Thitiphun showed he is also an accomplished player in his own right.
The Thai ran out in 32 with four birdies on holes two, four, six and nine before adding another on the par-four 11 to sign for a bogey-free 66.
"I felt very good about my round today as I was confident," said Thitiphun, who earned his breakthrough at the Asian Tour season opening event in Bangladesh.
He added: "There was a little bit of pressure playing alongside Ben as the huge crowd were cheering him on.
"But overall it was a good experience. I'm very proud of myself as I showed that I could handle these pressures,"
While Thitiphun remains a figure of consistency and confidence, Vincent is hoping for divine intervention after enjoying a fairy-tale run in the event, which is seeing the return of the Asian Tour as its new sanctioning partner along with the Korean PGA.
"I will just pray and hope I can settle those early nerves. It's going to be there tomorrow, I know it and I'm just going to calm myself down as much as I can," said Vincent.
Despite dropping two shots on the ninth and 10th holes, Vincent remains optimistic of emerging as the dark horse.
"I played well and I hit only two really poor shots all day. Apart from that, it was really solid. Not too much to be disappointed about as I'm still in the mix," said Vincent.
Bhullar is hopeful his power drives will steer him toward a grandstand finish as he goes in search of his sixth win on the Asian Tour.
Defending champion An had a round to forget after he returned with a 70, marred no less by a double-bogey seven on 14.