Thailand’s Poom Saksansin, one of the shortest hitters in the field playing one of the longest and toughest courses of the season, proved that distance isn’t everything today by taking the third-round lead in the Kolon Korea Open.
Poom, a four-time winner on the Asian Tour, returned a two-under-par 69, helped by a brilliant day on the greens, to lead by one, on seven under, and put himself on the road to an unlikely victory.
His compatriot Sadom Kaewkanjana, paired in the same final group today, is in second place after also shooting 69. The third member of their group, Songgyu Yoo, the leader at the start of the day, is next best placed two shots back. The Korean led for much of the day, but triple bogeyed the 16th – if not for that he would have been the joint leader.
Well, good afternoon and welcome to day three coverage of the 67th Korea Open staged for the first time ever at Lvia Bell’s Dunes Course. We’re just outside the city of Chuna northeast of the capital Soul. Eric and Cliff played nicely yesterday to make the weekend. Got off to a bit of a rocky start early doors, but rolled that putt in for Birdie on the third. And playing early portion of the day, Hanya Lee really out of the tournament. Five over par. This is the first cut he has made this year on the KPGA tour. getting a nice shot into the par four. Well, Bo Kim had a rotten start to the day. Began his Saturday bogey quad, had a double bogey at the six, but that birdie at the seventh will bring some small consolation to the former rookie of the year on the Asian tour. And Tongman Kim, who had his best finish at the Korean Open, a tight sixth when he was an amateur, trying to best that as a professional. Beautiful start. and converting. No better way to start on a Saturday than an opening whole birdie. Well, why stop at one when you can pick up another that at the third got him up to two under par. Unfortunately, he would take a double bogey at the nine to turn in even power. And Pacharakong Watmai, he could be the name to look after today. The man who can make birdies at a very fast pace. Last year’s KPGA Championship winner Garam John having a brilliant round of golf. Starting the day at four over par. Made the cut on the number. But that was one of five birdies in his day. He’s four under for his round and up to even par for the championship. And it’s always a good day when you can pick up a birdie at the difficult par 49. So, Garam John back just outside the top 10. And we’ll see how Pum was able to make up the two-stroke deficit. Teeing off on the very first hole. Looked like slightly pulled for his second shot coming out of the rough, but is it a day that he’s going to get the brakes? Getting into the perfect place just underneath the hole. Self-p profofessed luckiest player on the Asian tour. He’s a pretty good golfer as well. multiple time Asian tour champion, most recently coming in Chinese Taipei a couple years ago. Had to lay up for his second shot at the brutishly long 541 yd par for second, but made a lovely par saving part after an indifferent pitch. And then Jed Morgan in the group ahead, the Australian who secured the final card of the 2024 season. He’s had a very solid start to 2025 and it’s been a pretty solid start to the day for the boy from Brisbane. Moves up to four underpart and he’s within three of your co-leaders. Sakansin with that hot start draws level with Sunu Yu and wonderfully converted. It looks like Sodom’s just found an old sandfield divot in that left rough. But you got ample slopes to try and use to collect the ball near that pin today. And that’s very nicely struck. And [Music] so very nearly a bonus bird for Sonu. Well, Kenjana Excellent approach yields a first birdie of the day for Saddam who now moves ever closer to his compatriate Sakansin and Sunuyu. Nahim and Jang just coming off of a bogey on the previous hole. The par five greens much softer today because the early morning drizzle. This green yesterday was basically like concrete. All the players landing on the green were running over on the back portion. Lovely putt and a good birdie to balance the books for Scott Vincent on the sixth. Chance to take a step closer to Sonu. Now Morgan. Lovely approach to this point. Can he convert? Yes, he can. Jed Morgan starting to inch his way up the leaderboard. It’s the same problem here for Galanjanna, but just because he is 15 yards closer should be able to add more loft and rolling out to a good spot for his birdie attempt. Should be just a slightly uphill putt from there. The only player to find the fairway. Seu Yu can be a lot more aggressive than his Thai playing partners with this one. Gets that to back up nicely. Gorgeous shot from the leader. It’s a bit too strong with the speed on the last birdie attempt, but the clink of confirmation tells you that that one’s found the bottom of the cup. So, Ken Jana returns himself to five under part. Slightly uphill for him and less break than Sadomes. I just hammered it through that break. So a golden chance go begging for you on seven. Albert attempt for Sakans in to tie you. That was a great putt. Just missing on the high side. rolling half a foot by the hole at the 18 for Tabua. Uh it’s not going to drop, but it is a solid round of golf that gets Miguel De Moina back to the fringes of contention. You just want to place the ball just about pen high right for the best attempt at a birdie. Anything landing to the left there, he will catch that downhill slope. Just pulling up a bit short. He’s going to f face a pretty quick left to right breaking putt. Brilliant shot from Sunu Yu. It was only his fourth bogey of the week back on the ninth. at all for Saddam Ken Jana at the five under one of two tie players with the nickname pet which means diamond [Applause] opens his account for the day. Brilliant response to the drop shot at nine. U back on top at seven under par. A green a few yards above him. Scooped it up beautifully by a lot of spin. Third shot for Morgan after hacking it from that left rough. pinch that one off the turf perfectly. Excellent stuff from the Aussie. Currently even par for his round. Just coming off a bogey at the par 516. This one should start to turn. Lovely deuce there for Bin Choy. His fifth birdie of the day. Claws himself back to even par. The more standard shot there for Kiwan Kim. Bit of a bump and roller. Doesn’t have to worry about the release on this coming out of the fairway. That’s a stunner from Koken Jana. So important especially after picking up your first birdie of the day. You consolidate it with a albeit hardworking par at 11. It’s at this distance for these professionals. They can really think about having a birdie attempt. Stone dead distance uh right for his line, but distance very well managed. You can see him just throwing that right hand through the ball sort of almost underwritten having to make putts of this distance. It’s almost like you’ve seen this movie before. Anthony who sucks on doing what he does best. Grabbed a whole lot of the hole. But the high side lip out. That ball’s carrying a little more speed. So hard to hit those downhill big breaking putts from short range with any sort of pace. So the torid start to the back line just cools off slightly for Ken Jana settling for a par at 12. [Applause] Back to 13 and Vincent’s third. This pin position just in the center portion of the green, but just in an upper ridge. You see the leaves on those trees starting to move about a little, indicating that there’s some breeze swirling around the golf course as King E1 sticks one in tight. Can’t capitalize on that excellent wedge shot. Uh be frustrating for Scotty V. Beautiful wedge shot and a nice conversion. for Gwan Kim to get back to three under. Last thing he wants is a ball landing onto the ups slope of the area short of the pin then having a lot of backspin on it. Plenty of height on it. Controlled the spin nicely. Excellent shot from Sunuyu. and just trying to figure out the uphill speed of the uphill slope in the middle of this putt. Where that T-shot was, the five was well managed for Saddam. In you go. Ah, chip in on the last walk-off birdie and a 68 for Yinset Kang. Oh, it looked like it was cutting. Oh dear. Has that carried the edge of the penalty area. The search for Sun Yuyu’s second shot. But if the ball ends up on the back fringe, it’s not that bad of a place. At least don’t think he could have done much better from where he was. This is by no means an easy putt. Danger is that gets tangled up. Plenty of pace. You could see the reaction after he made contact with that fourth shot. He knew it didn’t have enough and it was hitting left. So hits the back of the hole. Boom. Socks on sin. Putters on fire both the tie. Avoids a bogey. Stays at seven under. That one came out of the sweet [Music] spot. That was always the danger racing that first putt past. So that is a full putt. Mitsu Kim could make his day a little better if this one drops for a closing three. Indeed, it will. Number 74, the number one ranked Korean amateur. Excellent stuff. saved his best for last there. Not easy those long bunker shots. No wonder he’s smiling. Credit where credit’s due. Could have so easily folded after that triple bogey. the slope. A lot of respect there, Ken Jana. Pum Sakansen leads the Colon Korea Open by one with 18 holes to play. Hey, this is Julian Cell. 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