England’s Matt Killen applied the pressure in a rain-delayed third round of the Ciputra Golfpreneur Tournament in Jakarta today, posting the low round of the day with a bogey-free 64 and securing a two shot lead over the field.

Indonesia’s Peter Gunawan (66) was one of three players similarly blessed with an error-free day, alongside Weerawish Narkprachar (66) of Thailand and Singapore’s Koh Dengshan (66). They were joined in second place by Paul San (66) of Malaysia and England’s Steve Lewton (66).

Shotaro Ban of the USA, a late entrant to the US$150,000 Asian Development Tour event, dropped two shots on his way to a 67, and sits three shots back in joint seventh place with Hoho Yue of Hongkong and the Thai trio of Nirun Sae-ueng, Chonjarem Baramithanaseth and Tawit Polthai.

“Obviously there’s eight birdies which was nice,” said Killen after his round, “but if I was to pick a couple I had a really good up and down on 13 straight after we went back out on the weather delay. I had a 40 yard pitch to quite an awkward pin and I hit a very good shot there.

“Then I hit four iron into the green on the last . You have got to hit a good shot into the last green so it was nice to hit a good shot there,” he added.

With a golden opportunity to secure his first win on the ADT, Killen knows he will have to dig deep to get over the line in the final round, especially with such a strong field.

“I’ll try to do exactly the same,” he said. “I know everyone says it but I’ll just go one shot at a time, add them up at the end and see where it leaves me on the last green.

“A win would be very important obviously in terms of ranking points and where it would put me and just getting that win is something I really want as well, so we’ll leave it at that.”

With tournament winners on both the Asian Tour and the ADT in the field, including former Order of Merit winner Jazz Janewattananond, the second round cut of five under par was the joint lowest cut score on the ADT, matching the 2019 Boonchu Ruangkit Championship.

“The standard is very good,” said Killen. “We’ve got a strong field. The golf course is in good condition so you can hole some putts, which helps the scoring, we have some reachable par fives and a driveable par four which brings the score down a little bit. There’s a good standard of golf out there and people are playing well,” he added.

Peter Gunawan of Indonesia pictured in action at the Ciputra Golfpreneur Tournament at Damai Indah’s Bumi Serpong Damai course.

Gunawan, who held the clubhouse low round until bested by Killen, said he made some changes to his game, showing his growing experience with the occasional outing on the Asian Tour.

“I had a whole lot of fun, first and foremost,” he said after his round. “I got off to a pretty good start, I changed up a bit on my strategy, played a little more conservative off the tee, mini driver rather than driver today and the premium of hitting the fairways shows.

“Yesterday I was blasting driver as long as I could with wedges in hand but in the rough it was hard to get close to the hole. I left myself a little bit further out today with the mini driver but because I’m on the short grass it’s a lot easier to control my proximity,” he revealed.

“After playing a few Asian Tour events I realised these guys are playing no-pressure golf and here I am blasting driver on the tightest fairways, making it a lot tougher on myself, so I’m definitely working on making the margins a bit easier for me. “

With Round Three completed, the final round will start on schedule at 6.54am local time, with the leaders teeing it up at 8.30am.

Main picture: Matt Killen of England pictured in action at the Ciputra Golfpreneur Tournament at Damai Indah’s Bumi Serpong Damai course.