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Korea’s Joohyung Kim took advantage of his impressive form to card a three-under-par 67 and extend his lead in the penultimate round of the Singha Laguna Phuket Open on Saturday.

The 16-year-old Kim compiled a three-day total of 13-under-par 197 after marking his card with one bogey and four birdies at the THB 2,000,000 (approximately US$63,860) event co-sanctioned by the All Thailand Golf Tour (ATGT).

Local prospect Suradit Yongcharoenchai, who started the round four shots off the pace, returned with a 64 to move into second place one shot behind Kim while Indonesia’s Danny Masrin sits in third place following a 67 at the award-winning Laguna Golf Phuket.

Kim dropped a shot on hole two but recovered nicely with a birdie on hole three to make the turn in 35. He notched birdies on holes 10, 13 and 16 for an outward 32.

“I had a slow start and was missing a lot of key shots on the first nine holes. I missed it the green left on the second hole and made bogey but I managed to get it back on the next hole with a birdie putt from five feet.

The young Korean relishes the opportunity to be playing in the final group for the first time on the Asian Development Tour (ADT) since he joined the play-for-pay ranks in 2018.

“I told myself to just stay patient and make the turn at even-par because I knew I could get birdies on the back nine. I just wanted to be in the final group tomorrow and I did that. I will try not to think about my scores tomorrow and just try and go low,” added Kim.

Suradit marked his card with one eagle, five birdies, and one bogey to put himself in contention despite battling with a flu.

“I am hitting it good this week and I made a lot of putts today. I had a nice chip-in on hole two from 15 yards that gave me a boost. I also had an eagle on hole 14 after I hit my four-iron to four-feet. I am very happy about my round considering that I feel quite sick still,” said the 20-year-old Thai.

The Singha Laguna Phuket Open is the Tour’s third stop in Thailand this season and is celebrating its third straight edition on the ADT this year.

Leading third round scores:

197 – Joohyung Kim 65 65 67

198 – Suradit Yongcharoenchai 68 66 64

199 – Danny Masrin 63 69 67

200 – Hein Sithu 69 68 63, Pannakorn Uthaipas 70 66 64, Janne Kaske 67 66 67, Chinnarat Phadungsil 68 64 68