Putting does the trick for Ryan Ang at SEA Amateur Golf Team C’ships

SINGAPORE – After two rounds outside the top three at the South-east Asian Amateur Golf Team Championships, Singapore’s Ryan Ang finally put the pieces together on July 11 to lead the men’s Putra Cup individual standings.

Beginning the third round five strokes adrift of the Philippines’ second-round leader Enrique Dimayuga (74), Ang recovered with a four-under 68 to lead the tournament on seven-under 209.

Dimayuga and Vietnam’s Nguyen Anh Minh (72) are just one shot behind at the Seletar Country Club.

Ang, who carded five birdies against one bogey, credited his stellar performance to his short game, which he spends nearly two hours working on every day, about 75 per cent of his training time.

The 24-year-old told The Straits Times: “The hard work that I did with coach Matt Ballard in Brisbane with my putting is finally paying off.

“I just wanted to see someone to go back to the fundamentals and see if there was anything fundamentally wrong and there was.

“Set-up wise there, I had quite a few things that I had to change that still feel uncomfortable over the ball here.”

After dropping a shot on the par-four ninth hole, Ang drained two par putts outside 10 feet on the next two holes before he birdied three of the final five holes.

However, he remains focused on the big picture.

His Singapore team are lying fifth and eyeing a podium finish, after registering the lowest score of the third round with a six-under 210, with Ryan Wong and Bruce Kwong contributing 70 and 72 respectively.

They are on seven-over 655 overall, four shots behind Thailand and Hong Kong who are tied-third.

The Philippines lead on 12-under 636, eight strokes ahead of Vietnam.

If Ang can retain his spot at the top of the individual standings, he will receive an exemption into the final stage of the Asian Tour Q-School, a stepping stone towards his goal of playing on the Asian Tour.

Doing so would be a “bonus”, but he added that the full focus will be on helping the team push for a podium spot.

Other Singapore golfers, Brayden Lee, Aloysa Atienza and Chen Xingtong are also ahead in the boys’ Under-16 Lion City Cup, women’s Santi Cup and U-16 girls’ Kartini Cup respectively.

Brayden (73), who is on one-under 215, leads Malaysia’s Joshua Lim (73) by one shot.

The 16-year-old said his score would have “probably gone way up high” after his double bogey, if not for his recent consultation with sports psychologist Jay-Lee Nair.

“It’s a lot of process-focused routines, so it’s not to let the short outcome affect how your mental state is,” he added.

In the women’s Santi Cup, Atienza took over top spot from Thailand’s Pimpisa Rubrong (76) after carding a 72 for a 215 total, which gave her a three-shot lead.

The 25-year-old said: “I didn’t even know I was leading but it is really good to know that. I think I’ve put myself in this kind of position more often in the last couple of months that I’ve played.

“For me tomorrow it’s just to learn from my mistakes in the past and just try to focus on myself and not get too anxious.”

The Singapore women, who also include Jaymie Ng (73) and Inez Ng (76), are just two strokes shy of leaders Thailand in the team standings.

“I think we probably will try to have lunch together, just reassure each other that we’ve got the game to secure the title. I think just having the opportunity to even have a chance to win the title is already very good for us,” Atienza said.

Meanwhile, Xingtong, 15, continued to dominate in the U-16 girls’ Kartini Cup.

While she shot a 76, she is still six shots clear of her counterparts from Thailand.

With commendable performances from teammates Passion Hsu (78) and Denise Ng (83), Singapore are level on points with the Thais, with the Republic second after counting excluded scores.