Shanghai, October 27: Thailand’s Kiradech Aphibarnrat will be hoping to overcome his ball striking woes on the day that matters most after carding a third round two-under-par 70 at the World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions on Saturday.

The world number 41 ended day three of the US$10 million event in tied-seventh place, six shots back of American leader Tony Finau, who stamped his authority at the Shanghai showpiece by being the only player to birdie the last three holes to lead with his three-day total of 13-under-par 203.

Defending champion Justin Rose, who is seeking to become the only player other than Tiger Woods to defend a World Golf Championships title, returned with a 70 to share second place with Americans Patrick Reed and Xander Schauffele.

While a maiden WGC win at the Sheshan International Golf Club is still within sights, the Thai prefers to play down expectations and just focus on getting off to a fast start so that he chase Finau down on the final day.

Kiradech birdied two of his opening three holes before dropping a shot on six. He recovered quickly with another birdie on the next hole but suffered another bogey on the eight hole.

The Thai then marked his card with another pair of birdies on 13 and 14 before another bogey on 15 dropped him back to two-under for the round.

Like Kiradech, Finau is also eyeing his breakthrough at a WGC event and is hopeful of getting the job done provided he continues to maintain his composure as he is wary of the host of world class players ready to capitalise on any of his mistakes he may make on the final day.

Did you know?

• Kiradech Aphibarnrat hit 9/14 fairways, 7/18 greens and took 21 putts today.
• The Thai is playing in his fourth WGC-HSBC Champions. His previous results include T55 (2013), T30 (2015), T24 (2017).
• He is the first player from Thailand to gain full-time membership on the PGA TOUR.
• Tony Finau is playing in the fifth World Golf Championships event of his career and he has never finished worse than T27 at a WGC.
• Finau finished T11 at last year’s WGC-HSBC Champions in his only previous start at the event.
• Justin Rose is bidding to become first golfer to successfully defend at WGC-HSBC Champions.
• He came from eight shots back to win last year, the third largest comeback in WGC history.
• Xandere Schauffele is looking for his first top-10 finish in a World Golf Championships event.
• In his past five starts at WGCs, Schauffele’s best finish is a T13 at the 2017 WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational.

Players’ Quotes

Kiradech Aphibarnrat (Tha) Third round 70 (-2) Total 209 (-7)

I got off to a good start, hit solid shots and rolled the putts well but towards the end of the day, I didn’t strike the ball as well as I could have. It’s the same every day, my iron game isn’t sharp enough to make it. I think so far I hit like seven greens in regulation, which is like so low. Accuracy is quite key around this course because when the wind picks up and it’s very windy around here, the golf course gets more difficult. I still have to work hard on my game to get everything back. I have to get off to a very hot start and just keep it going. I really need a low number to have a chance but finishing top-five is the goal for me this week.

Tony Finau (Usa) Third round 70 (-2) Total 203 (-13)

It was great to birdie the last three. It’s always a nice way to finish no matter what position you’re in. I didn’t have a lot going my way, kind of for the first half of the day, and Rosey was making his run. I was just really pleased I was able to finish that way and get some momentum going into tomorrow. I will just continue to take it a shot at a time. I’ve been doing a good job of that this week. You’ve got to still just stay in the present. You can’t look too far ahead, and learn just kind of from maybe some of the mistakes that I’ve made. I feel like I hit a lot of good golf shots. My speed on the greens were a little off, so you know, I missed quite a few putts because of that. But I knew I was right there. I was still in the golf tournament, very much in the golf tournament and if I could just finish the way I know I can, put me in good position going into tomorrow. There was no need to panic. Just play some good golf coming down the stretch and I was able to do that. I’ve got a world-class field chasing after me. This is the position you want to be in and you know, I’ll be looking to close out my first tournament in this position, which is exciting for me. Whether it happens or not, it’s an experience that you learn from and you continue to move forward.

Justin Rose (Eng) Third round 70 (-2) Total 206 (-10)

I’m playing well, so I’ve got to go out tomorrow. Shoot maybe something in the mid 60s and see if I can chase Tony down. Obviously there’s three guys at 10-under who are all going to be chasing pretty hard but nothing to lose tomorrow. It’s going to take a good round. I’m playing well, feeling good. Just got to put that last couple holes behind me and come out a little bit angry tomorrow.

Xander Schauffele (Usa) Third round 69 (-3), Total 206 (-10)

I think I’ll probably have a word with my caddie tonight. Try and stick to whatever process we come up with and try and slow down what I do. There’s a lot of decisions to be made out here on the golf course with the wind swirling. If we can stay in each shot and not get ahead of ourselves, I think that will be the key to success.

Leading scores after round 3 of the WGC – HSBC Champions being played at the par 72, 7261 Yards Sheshan International Golf Club course (am – denotes amateur):

203 – Tony FINAU (USA) 66-67-70.

206 – Xander SCHAUFFELE (USA) 66-71-69, Justin ROSE (ENG) 69-67-70, Patrick REED (USA) 64-72-70.

208 – Andrew PUTNAM (USA) 70-71-67, Tommy FLEETWOOD (ENG) 68-68-72.

209 – Keegan BRADLEY (USA) 69-70-70, Kiradech APHIBARNRAT (THA) 68-71-70.

210 – Jason DAY (AUS) 71-70-69.

211 – Thorbjorn OLESEN (DEN) 75-69-67, Billy HORSCHEL (USA) 68-72-71, Patrick CANTLAY (USA) 70-68-73.

212 – Andrea PAVAN (ITA) 72-71-69.

213 – Thomas PIETERS (BEL) 75-64-74, Emiliano GRILLO (ARG) 70-69-74.

214 – LI Haotong (CHN) 73-72-69, C.T. PAN (TPE) 68-76-70, Alex NOREN (SWE) 74-69-71, Adam SCOTT (AUS) 69-73-72, Rafa CABRERA BELLO (ESP) 68-73-73, Ian POULTER (ENG) 69-71-74.

215 – Satoshi KODAIRA (JPN) 72-73-70, Alexander BJORK (SWE) 70-75-70, Paul CASEY (ENG) 73-68-74, Ryan FOX (NZL) 70-70-75.