Thailand’s Tanapat Pichaikool was clearly focused on the task in hand at Angkor Golf Resort today, turning up the heat on the field to take a one shot lead into the final round of the ADT Players Championship presented by The R&A.

Opening with a run of five pars after a delayed start to Round Three, Tanapat notched up four birdies before adding an eagle in his closing stretch for a six under par 66 in the US$100,000 Asian Development Tour event.

Clearly looking to add to his win on the ADT in Jakarta earlier this month, Tanapat leads England’s Matt Killen (68) by a stroke, with Pakistan’s Ahmad Baig (67) one shot further back.

“I’m just trying to focus on my swing mostly,” said Tanapat when asked about his run of form. “Otherwise my mind will blow up sometimes and then think about scores, and think about what’s next.

“What I’ve been doing recently is focus on shot by shot, play whatever is in front of me and do my best, basically,” he added.

Currently fourth in the season-long Order Of Merit rankings, Tanapat will be looking to stave off a challenge from Baig, who is lying second after two wins already this season. The current leader, India’s Rahil Gangee, is not playing this week, and Tanapat will surely overtake the third place holder Liu Yung-hua who is playing in his native Chinese Taipei this week on the Asian Tour.

Ahmad Baig of Pakistan pictured in action at the ADT Players Championship presented by The R&A. The US$100,000 Asian Development Tour event is being held at the Angkor Golf Resort in Cambodia from September 25-28, 2024.

With the ADT making its debut in Cambodia at the Angkor Golf Resort, Tanapat was full of praise for the tour breaking new ground.

“I’d like to thank the ADT and the R&A for hosting this kind of event,” he said after his round. “The kids in this country can learn and develop a lot from it. The younger generation can see what is in front of them and what they need to do to reach this level,” he added.

Thailand’s Nopparat Panichphol (66) holds fourth place at the end of Round Three, ahead of Korea’s Minhyeok Yang (66) and the overnight leaders Joel Stalter of France (72) and India’s Arjun Prasad (72).

In eighth spot, the Thai pair of Poom Pattaropong (67) and first round leader Witchayapat Sinsrang (70) sit on -11 alongside Aman Raj (68) of India and Hong Kong’s Matthew Cheung (69).

Following yesterday’s suspension due to bad weather, 42 players had an early start this morning with play restarting at 7am to finish the second round. The cut was made at -2 with 57 players ready for Round Three, which began at 9.45am off two tees.

One of those players still out on the course was Thailand’s Kosuke Hamamoto, who ending up making the cut on the number. He bounced back to post the low round of the day with nine birdies and just a single dropped shot for a sparkling 64.

“To be honest I’m just really happy to be playing on the weekend because it looked like -2 wasn’t going to make it,” he said after his round.

Kosuke Hamamoto of Thailand pictured in action at the ADT Players Championship presented by The R&A. The US$100,000 Asian Development Tour event is being held at the Angkor Golf Resort in Cambodia from September 25-28, 2024.

“I had to come out this morning and play a couple of holes to finish the second round. I bogeyed my 17th hole and fell back to two under and thought I was out of it so I’m happy to be playing the weekend and happy I played a great round today.

Starting on hole 10, he made it to nine under par after 15 holes and admitted that he did start thinking about the magic 10 under par score.

“I’m not going to lie,” he said. “It definitely popped into my head because my personal best in a tournament is a 10 under round and I guess I kind of got ahead of myself, lost focus. and bogeyed number seven.”

Play will continue tomorrow for the final round, with the first group off at 8am using two tees. The leading group of Tanapat, Baig and Killen will be teeing off at 9.39am.

The ADT Players Championship presented by The R&A was the ninth event of the year on the ADT schedule, which picks up again in five weeks time with the Ambassador ADT at Hsin Feng Golf Country Club in Chinese Taipei from November 6-9.

Main picture: Tanapat Pichaikool of Thailand pictured in action at the ADT Players Championship presented by The R&A. The US$100,000 Asian Development Tour event is being held at the Angkor Golf Resort in Cambodia from September 25-28, 2024.