Hong Kong: Former Asian Tour number one Arjun Atwal fired a third round of four-under-par 66 at the UBS Hong Kong Open to brighten his hopes of retaining his full playing rights next year.
The 43-year-old was disappointed to bogey his last hole with a three-putt at a sun-kissed Hong Kong Golf Club but five birdies on the card pushed him up to tied 19th position with one round to play for the 2016 season.
Currently in 69th position on the Order of Merit, Atwal needs to break into the top-60 on Sunday to keep his full card and needs to earn US$16,000 here to overhaul current 60th ranked Shunya Takeyasu, who is not playing this week.
Atwal said he has not calculated the mathematics for his Tour survival. Finishing alone in 33rd position is worth US$16,000.
“Not really. I know I'm close. Because everybody else keeps telling me,” Atwal responded when asked if he knew where he needed to finish on Sunday.
“I think about it, then probably I won't be able to play. I know I'm outside the number looking in. First thing was to make the cut, because my back wasn't all that great the first two days. Couldn't practice or anything. You know, if I play solid tomorrow, I think I should be all right.”
Atwal, the first Indian to win on the PGA Tour, was simply glad to he managed to stay in the UBS Hong Kong Open following back trouble at the start of the week.
“I played in the Pro-Am and it got tight in the morning, and it just kept progressively getting bad, and I've already pulled out of two tournaments this year, one on the PGA Tour and one on the European Tour.
“And I knew this was the symptoms coming up. I went to the physio (Phillipa Stewart) and I wanted to hit balls and she said no. I just laid off it, and half-swings on Thursday. I think I hit six greens or something and shot even par. Got everything out of it.
“Then yesterday was a little bit better, the back, and then today was a lot better. I'm looking forward it tomorrow. I want to shoot a low one tomorrow.”
Several players lost their full cards after missing the halfway cut on Friday, with amongst others being Singapore’s Mardan Mamat, Spaniard Javi Colomo, Australian Scott Barr, American Jason Knutzon and Sri Lanka’s Mithun Perera.
Young Thai Jazz Janewattananond, who needs to finish higher than 31st position to break into the top-60, carded a disappointing 72 in the third round to slip back to a share of 65th position.
In the Order of Merit battle title, Australia’s Marcus Fraser, who needs a win to have a chance of toppling Scott Hend, shot a 68 for a share of 39th position while the current number one Hend double bogeyed his last hole for a 70 to be in tied 28th position, with potentially the champagne being put on the ice to celebrate his imminent crowning as the new Asian Tour number one.
