Thongchai keeps his composure, shoots 68

The Lopburi-based golfer sank two birdies on holes 16 and 17 to finish the third round with a 68, the same score he had on Thursday.

“I played well. Missed a few short putts on eight and nine. Also had a three-putt on 9 and 11. Bogeyed 15 which was an easy hole,” said Thongchai who shared joint 23rd place along with American Chez Reavie.

“Sometimes you hit it on the fairway, the ball picks up mud and you can’t control the next shot. The ball would go the opposite direction sometimes which isn’t fun. You can’t hold the ball. On the last, I had a nine iron but I couldn’t hold the ball on the greens. It was quite unfair because the ball is picking up mud,” he said.

After shooting a stunning 66 on Friday, young gun Chinnarat Phadungsilp failed to maintain his form and settled for a 72 which saw him go down from 13th to joint 25th for his five-under 208. Another Thai youngster Kiradech Aphibarnrat shot a 72 for a total of 209. He is in 27th place.

Meanwhile, Thongchai says he hopes that the region’s “golf war” will be resolved and that just one major tour will emerge to unite the divided continent.

Currently there is the bigger, more established Asian Tour and the rival OneAsia, which was launched in 2009. Tensions between the two sides have been palpable, sparking ongoing court action.

“I know that there is the little problem with the Asian Tour and OneAsia but if they can make it together it will be a very big tour for Asia,” Thai Thongchai, who has won a record 13 tournaments on the Asian Tour, told AFP.

“But now it’s a bit different and I’d like to think that [one tour] would be possible. Put together it can be a very big tour. I would like to see that. Just one big tour would be very good,” said the celebrated 41-year-old.

Thongchai is taking part in the co-sanctioned US PGA Tour and Asian Tour CIMB Asia Pacific Classic in Malaysia. Underlining the fragmentation in the region, the cash-rich Shanghai Masters is happening at the same time.

That tournament is not sanctioned by any tour and is offering a huge winner’s cheque of $2 million.

Asian Tour executive chairman Kyi Hla Han this week labelled it a “vanity” exhibition and warned China was jeopardising the development of its golfers.