Golf: Thai Sadom Kaewkanjana, American Sihwan Kim joint-leaders after 54 holes at S'pore Open

Sadom Kaewkanjana (left) shot up the leaderboard following his six-under 65, while overnight leader Sihwan Kim had a mixed day including a birdie on the 18th hole to stay at the top. ST PHOTOS: KEVIN LIM

SINGAPORE - Thai Sadom Kaewkanjana and American Sihwan Kim head into Sunday's (Jan 23) final round of the SMBC Singapore Open tied for the lead, after both finished on 11-under 202 on Saturday (Jan 22).

Sadom shot up the leaderboard following his six-under 65, while overnight leader Kim had a mixed day but dug deep to post a 69, including a birdie on the 18th hole to stay at the top.

South Korean Kim Joo-hyung is third after he signed for a 69, sitting three back on 205. The 19-year-old is the Asian Tour's Order of Merit leader and won last week's Singapore International at Tanah Merah Country Club.

Three players Zach Murray (65), Justin de los Santos (68) and Yuto Katsuragawa (68) are a further stroke back on 206.

England's Paul Casey, at world No. 27 is the highest-ranked player here. He signed for a 71 and was two-over 215 and joint-47th. This is his first event of the year after a two-month break.

It was a tough day for the three Singaporeans who made the cut. Nicklaus Chiam (78) was 74th and last on 222 while Koh Deng Shan (73) and Mitchell Slorach (74) were tied-64th on 218. There was some cheer for Slorach though as he had a hole-in-one on the 177 yard, par-three 17th.

The US$1.25 million (S$1.69 million) tournament is the season-finale of the pandemic-delayed Asian Tour's 2019-2022 campaign.

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