Yeoju, Gyeonggi-do, Korea: Local hope Kang Sung-hoon put himself in strong position to win the CJ Invitational after posting 11-under after 16 holes before the third round was suspended on Saturday.
The Korean held a three-shot advantage over Rikard Karlberg of Sweden, who finished the round in darkness for a one-under-par 71 while Kim Tae-hoon was on eight-under through 16 holes at the US$750,000 Asian Tour event.
Asian Tour Order of Merit leader Kiradech Aphibarnrat of Thailand remained in contention after posting seven-under with two more holes to play at the Haesley Nine Bridges Golf Club on the outskirts of Seoul.
The third round will resume at 8am on Sunday with the fourth and final round expected to start at 10am.
Kang, who played on the US PGA Tour in 2012, took the safe approach in the penultimate round which paid off as he was bogey-free after 16 holes.
“The wind was blowing quite strongly but I played it safe. That gave me the chance to attack and avoid the bogeys. I’m glad that the plan worked out,” said the 26-year-old Kang, who played on the Web.com Tour this season.
“I saw the weather forecast and there won’t be much wind tomorrow. So it is going to be a good challenge. It will be an important day for me so I will go out and attack the pins. You can score on the par-fives and I hope to take advantage of that,” he said.
Karlberg, a two-time Asian Tour winner, rushed to finish his round and narrowly missed a 12-footer birdie putt after misreading the putting line in near darkness.
“It was a little bit of a struggle. I started off badly but recovered nicely. The most important thing is how I played the last three holes. I missed a 12-footer on the last hole because it was so dark. I think I had a good idea what the line was but just didn’t hit my putt good enough,” lamented Karlberg, who totalled eight-under-par 208.
A tired Kiradech was disappointed not to take advantage of his solid start where he turned in 34 with two birdies. He dropped shots on holes 11 and 12 to slip back to even-par for the day and hopes a good rest will fuel his title ambitions.
“I feel a bit tired but I’m still hitting the ball well. I just missed a couple of putts on the back nine. I’m currently four behind but I just want to concentrate on the next 20 holes. I need a good rest and have enough energy to play. This course is very undulating so it is very tiring for me to walk this course,” said the Thai.
Asian Tour honorary member K.J. Choi of Korea, who won his own event in 2011 and 2012, posted a 70 and was disappointed not to make a charge up the leaderboard.
“The third round is usually moving day but I just moved a little bit! I did everything I could possibly do but it didn’t connect to a good score. I’m satisfied but it is okay,” said the eight-time US PGA Tour winner Choi.
The CJ Invitational Hosted by KJ Choi is title sponsored by the CJ Group, Korea’s food-to-entertainment conglomerate and is promoted by IMG.
Scores after round 3 of the CJ Invitational Hosted By KJ Choi being played at the par 72, 7226 Yards Haesley Nine Bridges GC course (a- denotes amateur):
208 - Rikard KARLBERG (SWE) 69-68-71.
209 - MAENG Dong-seop (KOR) 69-70-70.
213 - BAEK Seuk-hyun (KOR) 70-73-70, Jbe KRUGER (RSA) 71-72-70, Jason KNUTZON (USA) 72-71-70, KIM Gi-whan (KOR) 69-72-72.
214 - Unho PARK (AUS) 70-76-68, Anirban LAHIRI (IND) 69-76-69, PARK Ju-hyuk (KOR) 74-68-72, Jyoti RANDHAWA (IND) 67-74-73.
215 - LEE Ki-sang (KOR) 70-76-69, Anthony KANG (USA) 72-73-70, HWANG Inn-choon (KOR) 72-73-70, K.J. CHOI (KOR) 71-74-70, Matthew STIEGER (AUS) 67-77-71, Zaw MOE (MYN) 70-74-71, PARK Sung-kug (KOR) 70-72-73, Jake HIGGINBOTTOM (AUS) 69-71-75, Chawalit PLAPHOL (THA) 69-71-75.
216 - Panuphol PITTAYARAT (THA) 70-77-69, Chapchai NIRAT (THA) 69-78-69, Arnond VONGVANIJ (THA) 72-72-72, Gunn CHAROENKUL (THA) 67-76-73.
217 - KIM Hyung-tae 404 (KOR) 70-76-71, LEE Kyoung-hoon (KOR) 69-77-71, PARK Sang-hyun (KOR) 71-72-74.
218 - PARK Jun-won (KOR) 75-71-72, KANG Wook-soon (KOR) 75-72-71, Berry HENSON (USA) 69-74-75.
