Southport: Thongchai Jaidee of Thailand carded a third round two-under-par 68, his lowest of the week, despite struggling with a cold putter at The Open on Saturday.
Thongchai Jaidee watches his iron shot from the 10th tee. afp BEN STANSALL
Playing in benign weather conditions, the 47-year-old needed 33 putts in a round of four birdies against two bogeys to move to a one-over-par 211 total at Royal Birkdale.
"I hit a lot of greens but I had one three putt. I think I hit all the greens on the front nine but made some mistakes on the back. I had too many putts or my score will be lower. I enjoyed my round because the weather was perfect to play golf," said Thongchai.
The Thai, who is the only player to win three Asian Tour Order of Merit crowns, fought tooth-and-nail to make the cut in windy, wet and cold conditions.
After playing in near perfect conditions in the penultimate round, Thongchai hopes to play in good weather again on the last day as he aims to end his 11th appearance at The Open on a high note.
"The weather is so good. You can see the low scores because you can attack the pins. I look forward to the final round. I'm on one-over and I'm happy with that. I played great so far this week so I have no complaints," said Thongchai.
"I made the cut so that's very important. The focus now is to try and finish the best I can on the last day. If I can continue hitting the ball the way I am and improve on my putting, I will have a good finish here," he added.