>> Pattaya: Prom Meesawat of Thailand broke away from the main pack after carding a five-under-par 66 to lead the US$500,000 (approximately 16.5 million baht) Royal Cup by two shots yesterday.
The burly Thai, who moved to 12-under 201, kept his mistakes to a minimum and scored six birdies. He only had one bogey the entire round at the 15th, but it could have been much worse if not for a terrific bunker shot that landed five yards from the hole.
Second round co-leader Shiv Kapur of India carded a birdie at the 18th to keep things interesting going into today's final round of the Asian Tour season finale.
Kapur, who was playing with Prom, kept the leader in sight with pivotal birdies at the 12th in addition to the one at the last hole. Kapur finished with a total of 10-under 203 at the Phoenix Gold Golf and Country Club.
"I was playing my own game and Shiv [Kapur] was playing his own game," said Prom. "We have known each other for a long time. Shiv was playing well and didn't make many mistakes. I'm playing well too. I hope that it'll be good fun tomorrow.
"I'm going to stick with my game plan tomorrow. I'll go shot by shot. Shiv is playing well, I'm playing well. I'll just go out and enjoy. Having a two-shot advantage is nothing in golf these days. I'm just going to try my best to win."
Kapur's solid 2017 season has been a huge turnaround for the Indian after going through a tough year in 2016 where he lost his European Tour card and had to go through a liver surgery which kept him out of the game for a few months.
"I played great today. He [Prom] didn't make many mistakes. He left the door opened once or twice, but I didn't capitalise on it. Every time I made a birdie, he seemed to make a birdie as well. He played a solid back nine and he seemed to pull away a bit.
"I've known Prom since the junior days and I've played with him in the last 15 to 20 years. I have a lot of respect for his game. He's a fantastic player and he's not going to hand me the tournament. I'm going to have to go out and work hard for it.
"It'll be a fun battle if I can score some birdies on the front nine and put some pressure on him," added Kapur.
Young Thai Poom Saksansin was also happy about his round and rightly so. He kept pace with the front two with a steady display, highlighted by four birdies and just one bogey. He finished round three with a 68 for a share of third place with Gaganjeet Bhullar.
Bhullar, on the other hand, had a rather dramatic third round. He made six birdies, but it was slightly negated by two bogeys and an uncharacteristic double bogey at the par-four ninth. After a magnificent start, the Indian golfer ground out his round towards the last few holes and signed for a 69.
