Shiv Kapur drops to tied sixth in Cambodia

Siem Reap (Cambodia), Nov 21: Shiv Kapur endured a frustrating day on the greens as he managed just one birdie while giving away three bogeys to end up with a 74 that dropped him from overnight tied second to tied sixth at the end of the third round of the Cambodian Open golf here Saturday.

Welshman Craig Smith stayed on track for his maiden Asian Tour win after maintaining his lead Saturday. The towering Welshman fired a third round score of one-under-par 71 for a three-day total of 10-under-par 206 to lead by one-stroke going into the final round at the Phokeethra Country Club.

Kapur, who is fighting to save his Asian Tour card, was disappointed with his putting and will enter the final round five strokes off the pace.

"My putting is the story of the week. I just couldn't get it going. You are never too far in this game. I am five shots off the lead and it has been done before. I just need to get off to a good start and get a 64 or a 65 to give myself a chance," said Kapur.

The other three Indians also had a tough day with Vikrant Chopra (75) dropping from overnight 13th to tied 28th at one-under and he shares the spot with Rahil Gangjee (73), who also slipped down five spots.

Anirban Lahiri (75) came down from 15th to 33rd and he is now even par for three days.

Thai youngster Annop Tangkamolprasert heads the chasing pack on 207 after a 70 while compatriot Sattaya Supupramai climbed up the leaderboard with a 68 to take third place on 209 at the $300,000 full field Asian Tour event.

Malaysia's Shaaban Hussin and Pariya Junhasavasdikul of Thailand took a share of fourth on 210 while Shiv Kapur and Jbe Kruger of South Africa are among four golfers tied in sixth position on 211.

"I played very nicely and hit the ball very good on the front nine. I had a lot of chance from inside of six feet but couldn't get anything going with the putter," said Smith, who has only one prior top-10 in Asia.

Smith made the turn in 36 and was tied for the lead with Annop before he sank a birdie on the 16th hole, which set the two players apart.

"I got a long way to go, I got a fantastic talent behind me but I am looking forward to the challenge. The key is to keep my head straight and not to get ahead of myself. I still have 18 difficult holes to play," added the Welshman.

Annop, 19, continued his impressive run and was delighted to remain in contention. He started his round with an early blemish but was able to bounce back with birdies on six, nine and 13.