Pieters birdied the last two holes to close in at the end. He arrived here in encouraging form after top-10 finishes in both the Link Hong Kong Open and the Moutai Singapore Open.
“I putted unbelievable today,” Pieters said. “I think I had 24 putts. Usually, I don’t make a lot of putts from 10 to 15 feet, and today I made all of them. … I was putting on Sunday night on my putting green at home, and I was just kind of messing about with different models and stuff. I always like to tinker with putters. This one is an old one that I got eight, nine years ago, never used it, but it did a good job today.”
Kiradech Aphibarnrat, the Asian Tour Order of Merit winner in 2013, also clearly likes the course, as he was tied for third in the Saudi Open presented by PIF early last year.
“I’m quite pleased with the way I’m playing the past couple months,” Aphibarnrat said. “Starting really good, just can’t get everything going through the weekend. But I just keep knocking on the door, and hopefully everything is coming together. … I’ve been playing here not often, but this is my third time playing in this place, and I would say the green conditions is one of the best compared with the last two I played before.”
Stinger GC Captain Louis Oosthuizen and Crushers GC’s Paul Casey are tied for fifth following 65s, along with Korean Seonghyeon Kim and Torque GC’s Sebastian Munoz.
Defending champion Niemann has work to do after a 72, while Ripper GC Captain Cameron Smith, who was also in the playoff last year, came in with a 71.
The race to finish in the top two on The International Series Rankings to secure a place on the LIV Golf League moved one step closer.
The leading three players in the rankings, Scott Vincent from Zimbabwe, Yosuke Asaji from Japan, and Filipino Miguel Tabuena were paired in the same group.
Vincent and Tabuena both carded 67s, while Asaji fired a 72.
Vincent leads the Rankings, with 325.59 points, ahead of Asaji in second, on 285.3, with Tabuena third, having earned 232.28 points.
However, with the winner this week set to earn 324 points, the race is wide open, meaning players further down on the Rankings also have a chance to grab one of the places at the very end.
(Photos courtesy of Asian Tour)
