Dhaka: Young Thai talent Sadom Kaewkanjana stands on the verge of his Asian Tour breakthrough after signing for a three-under-par 68 yesterday to take a two-shot lead heading into the final round of the Bangabandhu Cup Golf Open.
The 20-year-old Sadom, who is making his first start on the tour after coming through the qualifying school in December, marked his card with four birdies against a bogey to stay atop the leaderboard with an 18-under-par 195 total at the Kurmitola Golf Club.
Sadom's overnight three-shot lead was reduced to two by his closest rival Rashid Khan of India, who narrowed the gap after carding a bogey-free 67, highlighted by an eagle and two birdies, to sit in second place at the US$350,000 Asian Tour event.
India's Ajeetesh Sandhu returned with the day's best score of a 65, thanks to six birdies, to trail by six shots in solo third in the tournament, which is celebrating its fifth consecutive edition on the Asian Tour this week.
Sadom, who has already broken through on the Asian Development Tour (ADT) last month, is chasing to become the third Thai player following Thitiphun Chuayprakong (2016) and Jazz Janewattananond (2017) to win the national Open of Bangladesh.
Should he accomplish the feat today, he would also become the record fastest qualifying school graduate to win on the Asian Tour.
"I am happy with the way I played today. I played better than I expected. This is my first Asian Tour event as a professional and as a qualifying school graduate. But I told myself to play like how I used to play when I was an amateur and not think about prize money and all," Sadom said.
He added: "I just want to enjoy my game and think about how to play this course. I hope to keep things the same, especially my putting game. Putting is important for every event. You need to try and make as many birdies as you can out there.
"I like this course. It's in a good condition. It's narrow but not long. It suits my game."