October 31: Yin Ho Yue of Hong Kong did all his scoring in the opening nine holes and then parred his way through the back nine for a two-shot lead going into the final round of the US$125,000 Egyptian Open.

Nicknamed Ho ho, the Asian Development Tour rookie shot a four-under par 66 on a day when the Madinaty Golf Club tested the players to reach a 54-hole total of 14-under par 196.

That gave him a two-shot advantage over Thailand’s Order of Merit leader Tawit Polthai (67), and was three ahead of Austria’s Niklas Regner (66), Thailand’s Poom Pattaropong (68) and Morocco’s El Mehdi Fakori (71).

Carl Jano Corpus (65) of the Philippines and Indonesia’s Kevin Akbar (69) were also in the mix four shots adrift of the leader at 10-under.

Promising local amateur Issa Abouelela was the best-placed Egyptian player in the field after shooting the second-lowest round of the day, a 64, that elevated him to tied 12th position. England’s Sam Rook shot 63 for the day’s lowest card.

Tawit Polthai of Thailand. Picture by Paul Lakatos / Asian Development Tour.

Yue did not have the best start to his round, making a bogey on his opening hole. But once he made a birdie on the third, he added a brace of them on the fifth and sixth holes, and another on the eighth and ninth. The back nine was all pars.

“I think my first birdie of the day was very important. I had a pretty rocky start. I got a little lucky on two, and didn’t hit a great shot on one. I felt like the nerves and the environment got to me a little bit at the start. It was also pretty gusty in the morning, and then, all of a sudden, I made a nice 12-footer on three, and it just shifted the whole momentum,” said the 25-year-old, who is looking for his first win as a professional and improve his ADT Order of Merit position from current 59th.

“I realised I can make putts. I wasn’t really scared of what’s ahead of me. I was kind of excited for it. So that shift in mindset was very helpful.”

On his back nine, Yue said: “Actually, it was a very interesting even-par because I had a lot of birdie looks and a lot of bogey danger, but I was able to find the middle ground. I was happy with that.

“I think tomorrow is gonna be a great experience and challenge. I talked to my coach last night, and our mindset is, let’s treat this as a test, like observe myself and see what I can do and get ready for the future and bigger tournaments. I will just stay really patient and just be excited for whatever comes.

Issa Abouelela of Egypt. Picture by Paul Lakatos / Asian Development Tour.

Tawit, winner of the opening event on the ADT schedule this year – the PKNS Selangor Masters – and runner-up at Ciputra Golfpreneur, is assured of graduating to the Asian Tour, but put himself in great position to ensure he went there as the ADT No1.

Ahead of No2 Matt Killen by nearly $20,000, Tawit made five birdies in a stretch of six holes from the fifth to the 10th, and could have closed the gap on Yue if not for bogeys on the 12th and 16th coming in.

“The best birdie today was on the ninth hole where I holed a 30-footer putt,” said Tawit. “I just followed my process todayand that’s what I aim to do tomorrow and just let it happen,”

Madinaty Golf Club member Issa has the pedigree, and he showed it once again by becoming the only player from the host nation to make the cut and now contending for a top spot. He is the son of the legendary Amr Abouelela, winner of seven Pan Arab Championships and 12 Egyptian Opens.

After a round that includes eight birdies and two bogeys, Issa said: “I had a lovely round. Very proud of the way I played today, obviously, after the disappointing first round (72), I had a lot of catching up to do, but I was very happy with how I was able to keep my head down and keep going.

“I missed the cut in Morocco, and it haunted me for a long time, so I was obviously very happy because it means a lot to make the cut in my own country. It just shows that we have the ability as a group of players in Egypt to do some great things.

“Having the Egyptian Open back is great. I was never able to play it because I was so young when it was last played. But obviously, it’s such an honour to have the Egyptian Open back for the new generation and the team. And to see my dad, who has won it several times, being recognised for his contribution to Egyptian golf. I am so proud of him, and my goal is to try and win this event.”

The Asian Development Tour is in Egypt for successive weeks. After the Egyptian Open, it moves to Sokhna Golf Club for the US$125,000 Egypt Golf Series – Red Sea Open.