SINGAPORE - For two days, on Thursday (Aug 11) and Friday, Malaysian Gavin Green demonstrated the "highs" of golf with his near-perfect seven-under rounds of 65 at Tanah Merah Country Club's Tampines course.
On Saturday's third day of the Asian Tour's US$1.5 million (S$2.06 million) International Series, he showed that golf has its "lows" too.
So from a position of complete dominance - a three-shot lead after two days - he suffered his only bogey, so far, on the 390m par-four 13th, by remaining in the rough after two shots and scrambling in.
And when flightmate Thailand's Phachara Khongwatmai (69) closed in on him at that stage, Green showed his frustration two holes later (par-four No. 15) by throwing his iron onto the ground because of a bad approach shot.
Then the sportsmanship streak in him lit again, as he chipped from 45 feet to within three feet to save par, a wide grin appearing on his face. He finished with three more pars for a 72 and 14-under 202 total.
That he could smile and keep his composure at the end of his round - interrupted by rain and lightning for two hours at 11.25am - was a characteristic to be admired, although Green described it "as a such a grind."
Settling for just one birdie on the par-five eighth hole, he remained calm as he added: "I couldn't get anything going. Nevertheless, I just hung in there as hard as I could, making pars from everywhere.
"Golf is not a game that you can be perfect all the time. My caddie (Luke Swemmer) kept saying 'stay in, stay patient. Now we are still in it."
Green and Phachara have a one-shot lead over Taiwanese Chan Shih-chang (66), who would have been on perch as well if he had not bogeyed his last hole.
Sharing third place with Chan was Thailand's Nitithorn Thippong, who managed two eagles in his sweet-sour 68 for a 213 total.
A jovial Phachara said: "Today everything wasn't bad, only one thing, my putting. I hit pretty well but missed a lot of putts. The greens were a little bit slower today, I think. Tomorrow, if I make the putts, then maybe it's (title) is mine.
"I must admit that I got lucky on the 13th . My drive went far right near the bushes. Then I hit a not-so-good shot that hit the trees, found the cart path and dropped near the green. I saved par."
Singapore's two amateurs Hiroshi Tai and James Leow gave local fans something to talk about when they held their own against a strong field of professionals.
Hiroshi bounced back from his second hole (No. 11 after starting from the back nine) bogey to conjure four birdies in his 69 to move up to tied-29th on 210.
He said: "I felt okay, was driving well and made some long putts. At the same time, I missed a couple of easy ones. Unfortunately I three-putted for the bogey after driving into the par-four 11th."
Leow, 25, had a decent 71, carved out by two birdies and rued a bogey for his 212 total and tied-41st spot.
He said: "I drove well, but my pitching needed to be better. I was leaving too much with my approach shots, from putting distance of 10 to 12 feet. That aspect cost me the bogey on the par-three fourth where I needed three putts."
They finished ahead of established golfers like 2018 Masters champion Patrick Reed (213 after a 72) and Indians Gaganjeet Bhullar (214, 72) and S.S.P. Chawrasia (214, 72).
Singapore's No. 1 Mardan Mamat suffered the same three-putt fate on his second last hole for a 71. He is on 214 and tied-57th among 74 golfers.
Selected leaderboard
202
Gavin Green (Mas) 65 65 72, Phachara Khongwatmai (Tha) 67 66 69
203
Nitithorn Thippong (Tha) 68 67 68, Chan Shih-chang (Tpe) 69 68 66
204
Steve Lewton (Eng) 67 68 69
205
Peter Uihlein (USA) 68 70 67, Jaco Ahlers (Rsa) 70 66 69
206
Veer Ahlawat (Ind) 69 65 72, Seo Yo-seop (Kor) 69, 65 72, Richard Lee (Can) 70 69 67, Wang Jeung-hun (Kor) 70 67 69
210
Hiroshi Tai* (Sgp) 72 69 69
212
James Leow* (Sgp) 74 67 71
214
Mardan Mamat (Sgp) 72 71 71
*Amateur
