Puyat fires 71 as Pinoy golfers tie Thailand at second spot

GUANGZHOU, China — Marcel Puyat carded a one-under-par 71 to lead the Philippines’ 218 to stay at second spot in a tie with Thailand in the third round of men’s golf competitions in the 16th Asian Games at the Dragone Lake Golf Club. Puyat, a student of Leadbetter Academy and an incoming Stanford University golf scholar, was off form in the opener with an atrocious 80 but that didn’t show in the third day. Miguel Tabuena, whose superb 68-68 rounds led the Philippines until halfway through the event, in the four-to-play and three-to-count format, limped with a 74 this time. Mhark Fernando contributed a 73. The Philippines and Thailand have the same 653. The Thais were led by the 65 of Jaichalad Attacharon, 72 of Sriptattranusorn and 75 of Saksansin Poom, making Saturday’s final round a showdown between the two Southeast Asian Games (SEAG) rival for the silver medal. In ladies play, Chihiro Ikeda finally had a breakout game of two-under 70 but failed to get much support from Dottie Ardina’s six-over. Mia Piccio turned in a 79 which was eliminated from the team output for the day as only the two best scores count. Ikeda, the reigning SEAG individual gold medalist, got off with a birdie at the eighth after seven pars. She followed with two birdies at Nos. 10 and 15 before tumbling with a bogey on the last hole. "I’m so relieved with this round. I’ve been struggling for two days," Ikeda said. The Filipinas remained in sixth place with a 146-452. They were 15 behind the Koreans, which finally showed its might in producing a whopping 11-under 133 and 418 total. Host China is in second (143-432) while Japan (143) and Chinese Taipei (148) are tied at third with 441. – Adrian Flores/JVP, GMANews.TV