Lin-sanity whips up storm

MANILA, Philippines - Taiwanese Lin Wen-tang went two-under-par on yet another difficult day at Wack Wack and took a two-stroke lead over the rest of the field heading into the final round of the $300,000 Solaire Open.

The 39-year-old Lin, owner of six Asian Tour titles but never a winner since 2008, had back-to-back birdies on both nines to spike his round of 70 and a three-day total of 212.

He birdied Nos. 7 and 8 and then Nos. 13 and 14 but could have done much better if not for back-to-back bogeys on Nos. 16 and 17.

Still, it was a very good round for Lin who will tee off today at around 10:30 a.m. with a huge bulls-eye all over his back.

“The course is really difficult,” said the solo leader in anticipation of what should be the toughest day in the tournament sponsored by Solaire Resort and Casino and offering a top prize of $54,000 or roughly P2.2 million.

Lin knows how to win and yet he’s certain that if he does today, it won’t come on a silver platter.

“I don’t know if I can still win tomorrow because it has been a long time since I last won. I just want to enjoy the tournament.  I will try to relax tomorrow and try to keep my own tempo,” he said.

Thailand’s Thammanoon Sriroj scored a 71 and stood just one precious stroke behind Lin.  Another Thai golfer, Pawin Ingkhapradit, and the Philippines’ Elmer Salvador stood at 214 after similar 71s.

“It was still a good round. Let’s see what will happen in the final round. I’ve never won in the Asian Tour. I hope I can get it this time,” said Salvador.

The seasoned Filipino golfer gave up a couple of strokes on the par-5 No. 5 where he had an eight after he completely missed the fairway, played out a couple of times and got on in five and three-putted.

“Minalas lang (Bad luck),” he said.

Sam Cyr of the United States and Kim Gi-whan of Korea are at 215 with their respective rounds of 69 and 62 while three more players, first-round leader Dodge Kemmer of the US, Unho Park of Australia and Gunn Charoenkul were at 217.

Miguel Tabuena, who went even for the day, is tied for 10th with Taipei’s Hsu Mong-an, Thailand’s Panuwat Mauenlek and Canada’s Richard Lee at 217, five strokes off the lead.

They are all breathing on Lin’s neck, each one of them capable of turning things around.

“There are a lot of good players here and I will need a lot of luck to win the tournament tomorrow. I hope I can win tomorrow,” said the leader.

While he intends to have fun and relax, the others won’t.

“I still have the chance to win,” said Pawin after his roller-coaster round highlighted by five birdies on Nos. 1, 3, 8, 13 and 17, and four bogeys on Nos. 2, 4, 13 and 14.

The only other Filipino in the top 20 is Mars Pucay who had a 73 for a 218 and a tie for 14th place. He waxed hot with a 69 on the first day but stumbled to a 76 Friday.

Tabuena, at 18 the youngest competitor in the Asian Tour, said he feels less pressure going into the final round than when he did in the 2012 Philippine Open when he was in the championship flight, so much in contention, only to score an 81.

“I can be more aggressive tomorrow,” he said. “I’m still good and feel that I still have a chance tomorrow. I’m not in the championship flight so I don’t have to worry because the pressure is not on me.”