Thai star Chapchai Nirat led the field at the Singapore Open yesterday, as Phil Mickelson and Padraig Harrington charged up the leaderboard to put themselves firmly in the hunt.
Although the rain held off, a backlog of players had to finish their second rounds, meaning only 27 were able to complete their third rounds before bad light forced them off the course.
Ireland’s three-time Major winner Harrington was the clubhouse leader on five-under 208 after a sparkling 66. But Chapchai was the danger man on nine-under after 12 holes, two clear of a trio of players on seven-under, including local hope Lam Chih Bing (after 11), Denmark’s Thomas Bjorn (after 12) and England’s Simon Dyson (after 11).
Joint overnight leader Ernie Els struggled to stay in touch and was one-over for the day, four behind Chapchai, after 11 holes.
Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy (after 11), India’s Jeev Milka Singh (after 14) and Mickelson (after 14) joined Harrington on five-under.
Chapchai, who broke through last year with back-to-back victories at the European Tour-sanctioned TCL Classic and the Hana Bank Masters in Vietnam, sunk an eagle on the 10th to take the outright lead.
World No. 3 Mickelson played 29 holes yesterday.
He hit five birdies to wrap up his second round before a bogey at the last, sparked by a poor tee shot after a camera clicked as he was driving, something that infuriated the American.
“That’s by far the angriest I’ve seen him in 16 years,” his caddy Jim Mackay said behind the 18th green.
Mickleson composed himself before launching into his third round, where he scored an eagle and two birdies to position himself for a crack at the title.
Singaporean hopes of an upset victory rest with Lam, who is not known as a strong finisher, managing just two top 10 finishes in 105 starts on the Asian Tour. But he is confident and will go out today faced with a 15 foot putt for par on the 12th, a shot he was unable to take as darkness settled over the Serapong course.
“It’s been a long day, but all in all a steady round,” Lam said, before rushing off for his grandmother’s birthday dinner.
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