Published July 17, 2008 on September 27, 2018

Kim Stays in Driver’s Seat at CIMB National Championship

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Kim Leun Kwang is one step closer towards a dream victory after retaining his overnight three-shot advantage following the third round at the CIMB National Championship at TPC Kuala Lumpur’s East course.

The 23-year-old Kim carded a four-under-par 67, highlighted by six birdies against two bogeys, to stay ahead of Amir Nazrin Jailani, who stayed in the hunt with a matching 67 which featured five birdies.

With R. Nachimuthu (72), Mohd Sukree Othman (72) and Alex Tiong Wei Zen (69) sharing third place and lying eight shots behind the leader, the fight for the title looks to be between two of the country’s emerging young golfers. The winner on Friday takes home RM30,000 and earns a prized spot in the US$7 million CIMB Classic next month, which is the only PGA TOUR tournament in Southeast Asia.

“I’m happy with my game,” said Kim, who is seeking a first professional victory. “Amir played really well and it was quite fun out there. Hopefully, I can do this again tomorrow and I hope it’s good enough. I hit my irons solid and gave myself a few chances.”

His second bogey of the round on 18 left him slightly disappointed. After missing a drive, he failed to get up and down to save his par. “Slight hiccup at the last. An under par round is still a good round. I’ll stick to my game plan tomorrow … aim to hit fairways and greens. You can’t think of the rewards as we’re still 18 holes away,” said Kim.

Kim, who turned professional when he was 17, refused to write off the chasing pack despite the eight-shot gap between him and the third-ranked golfers. “You never know, someone might shoot a 62 or 63 around here. You can’t say they’re out of it yet. I’ll just need to take care of my own business,” he said.

After finishing third in last year’s CIMB National Championship, Amir, 21, kept himself in the chase by trading blows with Kim during their third-round final group match. “We hit it close, it was a good fight,” said Amir.

“I’ll try to be more aggressive tomorrow. You can’t say it’s a big lead … maybe it’s a pressure lead. Three shots, anything can still happen. I’ll try to keep it close and see if I get a chance to overtake him. I’m playing good enough to shoot another low round,” said Amir.

The winner of the CIMB National Championship will have the opportunity to face PGA TOUR stars including 2017 FedExCup champion Justin Thomas, CIMB Classic defending champion Pat Perez, Keegan Bradley, Ryder Cup star Paul Casey, Japanese ace Hideki Matsuyama, 2017 Rookie of the Year Xander Schauffele and World Golf Hall of Fame members, Ernie Els and Davis Love III.

The CIMB Classic will be held at TPC Kuala Lumpur’s West course from October 11 to 14 where it is the second leg of the 2018-19 PGA TOUR season. Apart from this week’s winner earning a spot, the highest ranked Malaysian on the Official World Golf Ranking as of October 1 will also earn the right to play in the CIMB Classic.

The CIMB Classic features an elite field of 78 players comprising of the top 60 available players from the 2017-18 PGA TOUR FedExCup points list, eight sponsor exemptions and the top-10 available players from the Asian Tour.